Ancient West Penwith
West Penwith is roughly 16x12 km (10x8 miles) in size, bounded by sea-cliffs on three sides, and it has about 500 ancient sites, big and small.
Carn Galva from Lanyon Quoit
These include neolithic tor enclosures, cliff sanctuaries and quoits around 5,500 years old, stone circles, menhirs, cairns and mounds around 4,000 years old, and also carns, fogous, holy wells, old Christian crosses and churches.
In the bronze age Penwith was well known as a source of tin, gold and copper. It lay at the hub of the Atlantic megalithic culture stretching from Portugal to Denmark, with its core area between Brittany, Ireland and the west coast of Britain.
Penwith was also busy during the iron age or Celtic period and the age of saints and hermits in the Dark Ages.
There was a system to the way ancient sites were located and built. They were deliberately located in patterns of alignment with each other, forming a network of ancient sites knitted into an integrated system across the peninsula.
What did the ancients know that we don't? The Ancient Penwith site examines the evidence, mapping sites and alignments, reporting new discoveries and their possible significance. Forthcoming research into astronomical orientations, underground water and subtle energy patterns will, in due course, expand on this.
- To find out more about Penwith's ancient sites, click here.
- For more on the Penwith map and geomantic research, click here.
- Or for a short site summary, in a nutshell, click here.