The Journal has been maintained since March 2005 to promote awareness and the conservation of the incomparable but often-threatened heritage sites of Britain, Ireland and beyond.
Situated in an area abundant in ancient monuments, the Tregiffian Barrow is an entrance grave dating from the later Neolithic Period or earlier Bronze Age (2350BCE to 1501BCE) found at the side of the B3315 road about one and a half miles South East of Saint Buryan in West Cornwall.
Tregiffian barrow
Forming part of a sacred area containing several burial mounds, menhirs and the Merry Maidens Stone Circle, Tregiffian Barrow originally measured some 40 feet in diameter although a substantial part of the cairn was sadly lost due to road works carried out during the 1840s.
A kerb of large stones originally surrounded the tomb with 11 remaining, some to a height of two feet seven inches.
Access to the burial chamber is through a gap in the kerb thence by a short passage to a small chamber covered by four granite slabs, these measuring nearly ten feet in length with one now fallen into the chamber and there probably being five capstones originally.
The funerary chamber contained within the cairn measures some 16 feet in length with walls of large slabs and dry stone walling at the rear. The chamber is around six feet in width and some three feet high.
The barrow entrance, showing the cupmarked stone
There are two portal stones at the entrance to the chamber one of which is decorated with 25 artificial cupmarks. However, the cupmarked stone at Tregiffian now is a replica as the original was removed to the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro where it remains on public view.
A cup mark is also found on the upper part of the Northern capstone.
Tregiffian was excavated by William Copeland Borlase FSA (b.1848 d.1899) during the period 1868 to 1871, by Dorothy Dudley MA FSA (b.1885. d.1975) during 1967 and 1968 and by Arthur Massey Apsimon PhD FSA (b.1927 d.1919) in 1972 when some restoration work was carried out.
The excavations conducted by Borlase revealed ashes and bone fragments above and below a fallen capstone near the entrance and a flint flake above the stone.
Beneath another slab, a small pit had been lined with sand and shells and filled with bone and ashes contained in a collared urn.
The archaeological work has also established that it was likely that there had been two periods of construction work at Tregiffian.
Ten samples of cremated human bones obtained from the site have resulted in a Carbon 14 dating showing use of the burial chamber commencing from 1780 to 1510BCE and ending in 1595 to 1425BCE.
Of 93 recorded examples of entrance graves such as Tregiffian in Britain, 79 are on the Isles of Scilly and 14 in the Penwith district of Cornwall although they are also found in the Channel Islands and Brittany.
Tregiffian is a Scheduled Monument and is now under the management of the Cornwall Heritage Trust.
Access to the site is open and free but the original cupmarked portal stone contained in the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro is only available to view during the museum’s opening times and upon payment of an admission fee.
Sithney is a village and parish in West Cornwall between Marazion and Helston and is one of several other hamlets and villages in the parish notably St Johns, Penrose, Mellangoose, Lower Prospidnick, Dowga, Sithney Common, Sithney Green, Coverack, Crown Town also known as Gudna, Lowertown, Chyreen and Lower Tregadjack.
Writing in his ‘Wendron and Sithney in 18th Century’ published in 1930, the Reverend Canon Gilbert Hunter Doble MA (b.1880 d.1945), who in addition to being a clergyman was a historical writer and researcher of some note, suggested that Sithney once had an Iron Age or Romano British Round (800BCE to 400CE) situated near to the site of the present church. He based this finding on a field there having the name ‘Parc an Gear’ translating from the Cornish as ‘Field of the Fort’. Such field names are common in Cornwall and frequently can indicate what originally existed in the location. No trace of the structure remains but it does tend to suggest that what is now known as Sithney has a long history of human habitation.
Sithney was recorded as ‘Merthersythny’ in 1320 from the Cornish language ‘merther Sydhny’ meaning ‘St Sythni’s grave or reliquary’.
By 1623, the presence of the church saw the placename ‘Egloseynncy’ in use derived from the Cornish language ‘eglos Sydhney’ translating into English as ‘St Sythni’s church’.
Some sources refer to the settlement at Sithney being possibly first recorded in 1140 as ‘Merdreseni’. Care should be taken though, as this doubtless refers to the fair of Merthersythney, which since the 13th century is held on 5th August annually at Goldsithney some seven miles distant, with the name ‘Goldsithney’ actually translating from Cornish ‘gol Sithney’ into English as ‘Sithney Fair’.
The Legend Of Saint Sithney
Sithney, known as ‘Sidinius’ in Latin and ‘Sezni’ ‘Sezny’ and ‘Sezin’ in Breton, is believed to have been one of the multitude of Christian missionaries from Ireland who arrived in Cornwall during the 5th and 6th centuries bringing news of the Gospel.
He was active during the period 410 to 449, commonly referred to as the ‘sub-Roman’ era which saw the departure of the Roman Empire from Britain. In addition to Cornwall, he also had a presence in Brittany where it is said he went and where he is venerated at Guissény formerly Ploesezny and elsewhere.
One of many legends relating to Saint Sithney is an adaption of another which concerns Saint Kieran of Saighir, a monastic site in Clareen, County Offaly, Ireland.
Kieran or Ciarán is one of the twelve Apostles of Ireland and research indicates that he also undertook the journey to Cornwall in the 5th century where he became known as Saint Piran, the Patron Saint of Tinners and now widely regarded as the Patron Saint of all Cornwall.
Writing in Breton during 1636, Albert Le Grand (b.1599 d.1631), a Dominican brother at Rennes Monastery recorded the lives of 78 saints based on his research of early documents and his studies included Sithney.
His original work on Sithney was published separately in 1848 and entitled ‘Buez Sant Sezny’.
This informed of Sithney’s arrival at what is now Guic-Sezni in Brittany from Cornwall during the early Christian period and of how he founded the monastery there.
It was said that God requested that Sithney act as patron saint for young maidens who were seeking a husband.
Whilst showing humility, Sithney declined informing God that he would much prefer to care for mad dogs than for young women.
And so it was to be and the saint’s Holy Well provided water to dogs which were sick or mad and Sithney remains the patron saint who is called on to cure dogs of rabies, of the resultant hydrophobia and of madness, as well as having the patronage of Sithney in Cornwall.
His canonisation occurred before the adoption of formal processes and so he became a saint more by custom owing to his virtuous and holy life.
Sithney is believed to have died during 629 and is variously referred to as a Monk, Confessor, Abbott and Bishop and his feast day occurs on the 4th August in the village which now bears his name, on the 6th March in Guisseny, Brittany, and 19th September to avoid celebration during the Lent.
The Monastery of Guic-Sezni in Brittany now claims to have custody of Sithney’s relics said to include one of his arms. Writing in 1478, the chronicler William Worcester, also known as William of Worcester, William Worcestre or William Botoner (b.1415 d. c.1482), informed that his body laid within the church in Sithney where a long-held tradition has it that he is interred beneath the North Transept.
The Parish Church Of Saint Sithney
Of the early Celtic holy site at Sithney, nothing remains.
Current ecclesiastical records show that in a later period, during 1230, the church belonged to Roger de Antrenon and Nicola his wife, after whom Antron at Mabe near Penryn is named, who attached to it a charge of four shillings per annum to the priory of Saint Germans.
By 1267 it was appropriated to Glasney College at Penryn, the last rector ceded his benefice to the college in 1270 and the Bishop appointed the first vicar, Alan de Hellestone who is thought to have come from Saint John the Baptist’s Hospital which had been established during the early 13th century near Helston.
St Sithney seen from the northeast.
The Church of Saint Sithney seen today is mainly of granite and dates mostly from the 15th century with some exceptions and can broadly be described as being in the Pointed Style of architecture.
The church was consecrated in 1497 and stands on the foundations of an earlier Norman building.
The building consists of a chancel with North and South aisles, a nave of four bays, a shallow North transept below which it is said Saint Sithney was interred, a South transept, a porch to the South with the porch on the North used as a vestry and priest’s door. The East end of the chancel probably dates from the earlier church building. The windows are mainly Perpendicular in style.
The three-stage embattled tower with pinnacles stands to an overall height of 67 feet and contains three bells cast in 1771 and recast in 1950.
The tower
The South East pinnacle has a carved statue of Saint Sithney which faces in the direction of Brittany where he had very strong links with some sources informing that he came from earlier rather than Ireland.
St Sithney’s image on the tower.
At Guisseny in Brittany, a carved wooden statue of Saint Sithney stands above the door of the church earlier bearing his name and looks across the waters to Saint Sithney in Cornwall.
A copy of the statue of Saint Sithney stands in his church in Cornwall. This work was carried out by Rene Bagout, a Breton wood carver and presented to the church during Easter, 1986 by seven priests from Brittany who were visiting Sithney.
St Sithney’s statue
Every year, the statues in both churches are crowned with a garland of flowers on the feast day.
A carved depiction of the head of King Henry VII (b.1457 d.1509) who reigned from 1485 until his death in 1509 adorns the South West pinnacle.
The church was almost wholly re-roofed during the latter part of the 19th century, the interior was replastered and the original 15th-century roof and many of the original fittings were removed. Recent restoration work in 2018 revealed the skeletons of many parishioners interred beneath the church floor.
The South porch dates from the Elizabethan period and houses a stoup, a granite basin for the storage of Holy Water. Careful examination also reveals ornamented stones dating from the earlier Norman church incorporated into the porch wall with other such original stones being visible inside the church building.
The church flooring is of note although comprising Victorian quarry tiles in the main, Mediaeval floor tiles are in place near the altar and these were made at the now-lost Glasney College at Penryn.
The window in the Baptistry incorporates stained glass roundels dating from the 13th or 14th century. By chance, they survived the destruction wreaked on churches during the Cromwellian period and were mounted in the windows in 1851. Initially, this window was situated behind the organ but work carried out in 1925 saw the window moved to its current site and the stained glass is again visible.
Ancient roundels in the baptistry window.
A wooden pew end dating from 1480 has been fixed to the Baptistry wall.
On the North wall of the Lady Chapel are rood stairs which originally led to the gallery above a rood screen.
A large four-framed panel is suspended from the roof of the North aisle, painted with a copy of a letter of thanks written by King Charles I (b. 1600 d.1649) and addressed to the people of Cornwall for the support they gave him during the Civil War and written by him during 1642 whilst he was at Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire. The beautiful work was carried out by local men Henry Arundell and Samuel James.
The Font
The font in the Parish Church of Saint Sithney has a bowl dating from the Norman period, specifically 1080 to 1100. It was carved from Greenstone, a form of volcanic rock found in Cornwall. It has an outside diameter of approximately 19 inches, an inside diameter of around 14 inches and stands just short of 13 inches in height. It is decorated with a chevron-carved rim and cable moulding under the font and stands on a granite pedestal dating from around 1750.
The font was discovered during the works of 1853 beneath the Sanctuary where it had been employed to support the floor, and was immediately passed to the church being constructed at Carnmenellis which was being constructed because of the burgeoning population there brought about by mining.
The church at Carnmenellis fell into disuse following the decline in mining, and the font was restored to Saint Sithney’s church in 1922.
The Coffin Slab
Now found on the North wall and directly facing the South door, a granite slab which served as a coffin lid dates from the 13th century or indeed far earlier.
In 1918 this was situated in a boundary wall at the base of Saint John’s Hill, Helston close to the site of the former Mediaeval Saint John’s Priory and hospital and the then landowner, the Duke of Leeds gave consent for the artefact to be moved to the church.
The Templar(?) coffin slab
Standing around five feet seven inches high, it is thought that the stone was the lid of the sarcophagus of Prior Penhalurick and that it may actually date from the 9th century.
With its extended and flared carved Latin cross and bearing in mind the hospital which then existed at the priory, the lid appears very Templar-like indeed.
With the dissolution of the monasteries during the 16th century, the priory and hospital at Saint John’s were vandalised and by 1545, lay in ruins.
The ‘Wheal Fortune’ Mediaeval Cross
Now found in the churchyard at Saint Sithney Parish Church, this wheel headed cross head of granite later mounted on a pillar dates from the Mediaeval period (1066 to 1539) and was rediscovered during the 1940s at Wheal Fortune Farm, Carnmeal Downs, situated in the nearby Breage Parish.
The Wheal Fortune Cross.
The head measures one foot five inches in diameter and is seven inches in thickness. Mounted on an inscribed granite pillar during 1977, it stands to an overall height of around five feet eight inches.
One face of the artefact bears an equal limbed cross with a small depression near the centre but the reverse face was completely hollowed out to a depth of just over four inches to allow for it to be used as an agricultural feeding bowl. This terrible act of vandalism has occurred with crosses elsewhere.
Having been purchased on discovery for two shillings and sixpence, it spent a time in the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro before being moved to the churchyard at Saint Sithney’s and mounted on a pre-existing modern pillar bearing the inscription ‘Unveiled by John Williams on his Ninetieth Birthday 12.11.1972 A.M.D.G.’ (A.M.D.G. not A.M.D.C. as cited in some references; Latin: ‘Ad maiorem Dei gloriam’ – ‘For the greater glory of God’). Mr Williams was a longstanding church warden and the pillar was originally donated by a Mr N.T. Richards. Coupled with the now mounted cross, the monument was dedicated by the Reverend John Pearce.
The Oliver And Other Memorials
There are many memorials to local and influential families and clergy on the internal walls as well as in the surrounding churchyard, family vaults and fine examples of 15th century stained glass.
Many of the memorials date back to the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries and more recently and all bear witness to the fascinating lives led by those commemorated.
One such which has drawn attention is the pillar memorial in the churchyard dedicated to John Oliver of nearby Trevarno, erected during 1741 by his son, Doctor William Oliver (b.1695 d.1764), inventor of Bath Oliver biscuits which are a dry biscuit or cracker normally consumed with cheese. Designed by the noted antiquarian, geologist and clergyman, Reverend William Borlase (b.1696 d.1772) a friend and associate of Doctor Oliver, the memorial carries an epitaph by the poet Alexander Pope (b.1688 d.1744) an acquaintance of both.
A centre of Cornish wrestling tournaments in the past and home to many wrestling champions of the past, Sithney and its parish church are worthy of a visit. The church is now a Grade 1 Listed Building and continues as a place of worship with services occurring on a regular basis. The church is often open for public access.
References
Placenames in Cornwall and Scilly – Craig Weatherhill, Wessex Books in association with Westcountry Books, Launceston, Cornwall 2005
The Heritage Action Megameet has had a patchy history in recent years. This has been due to several factors; the geographic spread of our members, the inability to agree on a suitable date for everyone, family and health issues, and more. However, with the recent loss of our previous chairman Nigel Swift, it has been decided that we should all make an extra effort to get together in his honour and hold a mega-Megameet!
Following discussions and a poll in the Megameet Facebook group, a date has now been agreed upon, and it is our hope that many ‘modern antiquarians’ will gather in Avebury stone circle in Nigel’s memory on August 17th this year.
As with previous meets, the plan is to assemble in the NE quadrant near the Cove for a shared picnic in the hour or so before midday. Expect lots of friendly chat about ‘big old rocks’, landscape ‘lumps and bumps’ and associated topics, as well as many stories and memories of Nigel and the origins of Heritage Action and the Heritage Journal. There will also be the traditional ‘book swap’ as part of the day, so bring along any heritage/archaeology books you may no longer require.
If the weather is inclement, we shall assemble instead in the Red Lion – although I expect we’ll end up in there for a toast to Nigel at some point regardless of the weather!!
All readers of the Heritage Journal are cordially invited, and we hope to see as many of you as possible there on the day.
The recently issued January/February 2024 edition of the Cornwall Heritage Trust’s newsletter contained the news that the Trust has now assumed the management of the Duloe Stone Circle on behalf of the Duchy of Cornwall.
The Duchy owns numerous historic and ancient sites and some, notably the profit-making castles, have been placed under the less than satisfactory management of English Heritage.
However, it is encouraging that an increasing number of sites are now owned or under the faultless and careful management of the Cornwall Heritage Trust whose annual acquisitions have now raised the total number of sites the body administers to 16 following an impressive five gained in the past 18 months.
Those 16 monuments in the care of the Trust represent a wide span of historic periods from the Prehistoric, through the Mediaeval era and into Victorian industrial times.
Duloe is a village between Liskeard and Looe in Cornwall and just to the South of the settlement, a small oval stone circle is located, comprising eight white quartz monoliths of which seven continue to stand.
The circle has a varying diameter measuring just over 38 feet by 33 feet 6 inches thus making it the smallest of Cornwall’s circles.
The circle dates from the Bronze Age (2500BCE to 801BCE) and the use of white quartz for all the stones makes it unique amongst stone circles in Cornwall.
The stones are of various heights ranging from three feet three inches to seven feet ten inches and the four largest stones which stand at the cardinal points of the compass have been estimated to weigh up to nine tons each.
A field hedge bisected the circle until 1858 when it was removed and in 1863, three of the stones were re-erected during which a Bronze Age urn containing cremated human bones was recovered.
This find resulted in the Cornish antiquarian William Copeland Borlase FSA (b.1848 d.1899) suggesting in his ‘Nænia Cornubiæ’ published in 1872 that the circle originally retained a low barrow and thereafter the site became known as ‘The Druids Circle’.
However, the late Cornish historian and archaeologist Craig Weatherhill (b.1950 d.2020) thought the stone circle appeared too large to have retained such a barrow.
With tourism, housing and roadbuilding development virtually out of control in Cornwall resulting in damage and even loss of some ancient sites, and with Duloe having been at risk from tourism-related development as noted in the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Heritage Environment Record, its management by the Cornwall Heritage Trust cannot have come too soon.
This is not the first instance of the Trust having saved historic sites and coupled with its impressive public and educational schools outreach programme, increasing membership and popular campaigns, it continues to grow in stature in Cornwall, and is far more principled than other heritage bodies which place profit and the ‘Disneyfication’ of Cornwall’s unique heritage over and above care for the monuments.
In what is becoming far too frequent an event, another ancient monument has been damaged in Cornwall due to the carelessness of a driver.
The Trevellan or Trevellion wheelheaded cross is one three ancient crosses located in Luxulyan parish, in the village of Lockengate. The cross has previous damage, possibly due to its earlier movements. First recorded in 1870 at Trevellion Farm in use as a hedging stone, it was moved to the Mission Chapel in 1902. When the chapel was sold in 1972, the cross was placed in its current location at the roadside at Lockengate.
Trevellan Cross as seen in 2010.
This wheelhead cross is rough-hewn and has similar cross designs on both faces. It was mounted on a modern base and stood nearly 2m high.
But the cross has now been dislocated from its base due to a vehicle reversing into it, judging from tyre tracks in the following photo, supplied by Cornwall Crosses expert Andrew Langdon, to whom we are indebted:
Photo by Andrew Langdon, 12th February 2024.
Luckily, the cross shaft does not appear to have been fractured, so it should be able to be re-set without too many problems.
Photo by Andrew Langdon, 12th February 2024.
Questions remain though: was this just carelessness, or a deliberate act? And why do so many of our ancient monuments get damaged by vehicles every year? It’s not just our wayside crosses (Cornwall is blessed with several hundred such monuments) but also our ancient bridges and other scheduled buildings. It is a fact that many Cornish roads and lanes are narrow, and modern vehicles are larger than at any other time. But the A391, on which this monument stands, is not a minor lane but a fairly busy road, leading from the A30 to St Austell. The cross is not close to the roadside, but set back, on a junction:
Image courtesy of Google Streetview.
There is therefore no obvious reason why a vehicle would need to use the grass verge in a reversing manoeuvre. So was it hit head-on, by a driver who possibly lost control trying to turn left too late or too fast? Unlikely but possible…
Negotiations are underway to have the cross re-erected and we can only plead with all drivers: Please take care and treat our ancient monuments with the respect they deserve. Most all of them pre-date the motor vehicle age and should be allowed to delight and educate future generations to come.
Regular readers will be aware that our long-standing chairman, Nigel Swift sadly passed away last month.
Nigel’s wish was for no formal funeral. However, his family and close friends are attending an informal celebration of his life at 1pm today. Although many will be unable to attend in person, anyone who knew him, or had any dealings with him over the years is invited to raise a glass to a life exceptionally well lived, wherever they may be.
This will be an opportunity to smile and share fond stories of Nigel, and importantly, to remember him. Wear whatever you like, Nigel would not have noticed or cared, and any colour is appropriate!
He would have sneered at cards or flowers (best left as trees or in the ground where they belong). But we’re sure that the family would appreciate any small donations in his name to St Richards Hospice where he spent his final days.
So, whatever your tipple, be it tea, coffee, fruit juice, beer, wine or something a little stronger, please feel free to take a moment to join in the celebration, and always remember him.
It is with intense sadness, and a deep sense of loss that we have to report that Nigel Swift, Chairman of Heritage Action (HA) for 20 years, passed away on Monday evening. He had been living with prostate cancer for over 20 years, but had discovered during a recent stay in hospital that the cancer had spread. Despite this, his final weeks were full of laughter, surrounded by his family, and his final days at a wonderful hospice passed in tranquility and painlessness.
Nigel Swift
Nigel Swift graduated in Economics and Politics (University of London) and was a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He has published articles and lectured at various universities on surveying-related topics. Following his early retirement in 2001, he expanded a keen interest in archaeological conservation issues. He was a co-founder and Chairman of UK and Ireland group Heritage Action which is dedicated to voicing the concerns of many ordinary members of the lay public on various matters relating to heritage conservation.
Nigel was a keen participant on the Head Heritage forums, and was known for his strong views against metal detectorists. Indeed, over the years he made few friends in that area and endured many extreme reactions to his views, including threats of violence, but as he once said – ‘What are they going to do to me? There is nothing they can do to me.’
Knowing that the end was near, Nigel requested that we post the following poem on his behalf:
Relative Ron
This is the story of Relative Ron, Admittedly dead, but not really gone. He explained what he meant as he breathed out his last (He didn’t have long so he talked very fast):
“They say that the universe is without limit, So clearly I’ll always be someplace within it. And although it might seem that my time has now passed, This can hardly be true in arrangements so vast: For boffins contend that space-time is bent And reverses on reaching an horizon-event. So don’t look so gloomy, for clearly it’s plain Right now in the future we’ll all meet again.”
Below are some of the early reactions to the news of Nigel’s passing, showing how well respected and loved he was among the amateur antiquarian community.
I’m so, so sorry to hear this! Absolutely gutted. I really loved that bloke. I’ll miss the daft old sod.
We ADORED Nigel. His refusenik righteousness, his fire, his intelligence, his curiosity, kindness and humanity. If you knew him you were lucky. And weren’t we so lucky?
The quintessential troublemaker, you’ll be missed Nigel. The twenty-plus years of your life hammering against heritage theft, unfettered metal detecting, vandals etc etc are testament to your spirit. The humour and passion you did it with came for free. My favourite memory is telling me to be calm when approaching people climbing stones at Avebury in one minute then angrily yelling “oi, you can’t climb that” two minutes later. Never shy in coming forward. Rock on mate.
He once told me he was working as a chartered accountant somewhere, and when he was taken ill and got a “six-months-to-live” diagnosis – his firm told him he need not come in and they’d give him full pay until he died… in the end, and this was some years later, they (as he put it) sued him for not dying [I am sure the legal term is probably different].
Devastated. Even though we knew it was coming. I shall miss his phone calls, his quips, his laugh. I am not even sure of his age but first met him in person in 2000. We met in a pub on Salisbury Plain and conceived what eventually became Heritage Action, albeit I then refused to join. Nigel then came up with the meeting which took place at the ‘orse (the Uffington White Horse, which led to the formation of HA ).
There is so much more that could be said. Fare well on the other side Nigel. The world is a worse place without you…
Today Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS) learnt that its judicial review of the Government’s decision to approve a highly damaging, £2.5bn road scheme through Stonehenge World Heritage Site, for a second time, had been unsuccessful. Mr Justice Holgate in handing down his judgement today dismissed the application. SSWHS have said that they intend to appeal the decision.
The judgement comes after a 3 day hearing in the High Court in December. UNESCO, five planning inspectors and over 236,000 people were all opposed to National Highways’ highly damaging plans. Save Stonehenge WHS’s legal action had been the only thing stopping the giant earthmovers from entering this 5,000-year-old landscape.
John Adams, chair of the Stonehenge Alliance and one of the 3 directors of SSWHS, said:
“In the face of Government indifference to the harm this road will cause the World Heritage Site, we had no choice but to bring this legal action. While this judgement is a huge blow and exposes the site to National Highway’s state sponsored vandalism, we will continue the fight. In the dying days of this Conservative Government, which has inflicted so much damage on the country, we cannot let it destroy our heritage as well.”
Tom Holland, historian and president of the Stonehenge Alliance, said:
“This is a devastating loss, not just for everyone who has campaigned against the Government’s pig-headed plans for the Stonehenge landscape, but for Britain, for the world, and for subsequent generations.”
SSWHS successfully raised over £80,000 to bring this action. SSWHS will now have to raise a further £15,000 in order to apply for permission to appeal at the Court of Appeal. If a hearing is granted, a further £40,000 could be required.
The CrowdJustice page has a new interim target of £100,000. This is to raise the additional funds needed to make an application for permission to appeal (at the Court of Appeal). If a hearing is granted, the CrowdJustice target is likely to need to rise to around £140,000.
Nance Farm is found in Illogan near Redruth in Cornwall. The valley which the farmland overlooks is wooded, and at its base, the B3300 road leading from Redruth enters the seaside village of Portreath with its former industrial port and harbour.
Nance derives from the Cornish word ‘nans’ meaning ‘valley’ and the word is in use in many other placenames throughout Cornwall as well as being a family name.
Situated on a high spur of land at the farm and overlooking the valley below as well as the valley which joins it from Illogan, an earthen round stands guard and is thought to date from the Iron Age period, 800BCE to 42CE.
As is common across Cornwall, most fields are named, and during the 18th and 19th centuries the one in which the round stands was called ‘Goon an geare’ which translates from Cornish as ‘downland of the fort’. This later became ‘Gullen Gear’, thence ‘Golden Gear’.
Nance round or hill fort comprises an oval part bivallate structure with the greater diameter being around 380 feet and the lesser 341 feet.
The surrounding ramparts are between around six feet and six feet seven inches in height and the ditches, of which there originally appear to have been two, currently measure around two feet four inches in depth. The double ditch remains on the southwest side of the round.
Rampart and ditch Nance Round (Cornwall Council)
The entire round occupies an area of around two acres.
An additional rectangular enclosure appears to have existed as an appendage on the southeast side of the round, a fairly rare feature.
The ’round’ is complete except where a section of the outer bank and ditch on the North to North East side has been removed.
No obvious entrance to the round has ever been identified.
Nance and Nancecuke Rounds as drawn by Charles Henderson 1916
Prehistoric (500,000BCE to 42CE) flint scrapers have been found on site.
A matter of a few feet to the West of the enclosure there are traces of an oval ring ditch earthwork measuring some 78 feet 9 inches by 59 feet. Nothing is visible at ground level but this has featured on aerial photographs.
Current analysis informs that it was probably a Bronze Age (2500BCE to 801 BCE) round barrow which has been ploughed down over the years.
Nance round has been used as part of the ceremonies observed by Gorsedh Kernow and indeed, the late Craig Weatherhill (b.1951 d.2020), noted Cornish historian, archaeologist, toponymist and author was Barded there in 1981 for his services to Cornwall.
There have been suggestions from many sources that Nance round and hillfort served as a trading post. This is entirely possible bearing in mind its close proximity to the cove below and the sea is known to have washed further inland into the valley than it presently does.
A local tale informs that the earthwork is of Roman origin and was the site of a great battle in the distant past. However, it predates the arrival of any Roman influence although a battle may have occurred there as others are recorded along the local stretch of coast and adjacent moorlands.
The round is situated on farmland and access is best requested from the landowner.
Nancekuke
Of interest is the fact that immediately across the deep valley below Nance which now carries vehicular traffic from further inland along the B3300 to Portreath, a sister earthwork is recorded at Nancekuke.
Image from Google Earth showing the round at Nance and the Nancekuke airfield across the valley
Nancekuke which was recorded in 1170 as ‘Nanscoig’ is a Cornish placename deriving from ‘nans cog’ meaning ’empty valley’.
This earthwork was also a round dating from a similar period to the one at Nance and was written of by renowned antiquarian and historian Charles Henderson (b.1900 d.1933) who at a very young age visited the site during 1916 noting:
“On the other side of the valley (from Nance) is the hamlet of Great Nance-kuke, and between it and the cliffs, a distance of about a half mile, are the scanty remains of a small earthwork. It stands in a field and has been greatly ploughed down, though its outline can still be traced. The interior was raised artificially to make a level space and hence, though the enclosing rampart has been quite ploughed away, a terrace still marks its site. This terrace is still further emphasized by a shallow depression around it—all that is left of the encircling fosse. As will be seen on the plan, a hedge intersects the camp on the west side, and the shape is oval, 65 yards by 45 yards, not circular. At ‘A’ (referring to his sketch, see above) the terrace is quite 5 ft. in height.”
The Royal Air Force assumed control of the larger part of Nancekuke at the commencement of the Second World War and by 1941, the airfield constructed there became RAF Portreath, a Fighter Command station. The building of runways and other structures wiped away many ancient sites and although the site is no longer an active airfield, a chemical warfare establishment was on the former air station from the early 1950s through to the end of the 1970s and tons of toxic nerve agents produced and stockpiled there causing widespread environmental damage and death to employees. The area remains in use as an air defence radar station with upgrades being carried out as recently as 2020. Limited public access does occur for specific events.
Before the destruction inflicted to clear the area had occurred, field placenames which were recorded during the 18th century give a clear indication of the existence of a sister to the round and fort at Nance just opposite.
One such field had the name ‘Geer’ deriving from the Cornish ‘ker’ or ‘cayr’ meaning ‘fort’ and another ‘Todden Kere Common’ from the Cornish ‘todn ker’ translating as ‘grassland of, or by the fort’.
The site of the round at Nancekuke was visited by an Ordnance Survey fieldworker during 1970 and he recorded a slight oval feature measuring approximately 164 feet by 197 feet.
Nearby several implements dating from the Mesolithic (8000BCE to 4000BCE) and Neolithic (4000BCE to 2500BCE) periods were recovered during archaeological excavations carried out during 1940 by Charles Kenneth Croft Andrew (b.1899 d.1981). Amongst other artefacts, these items comprised arrowheads, scrapers, blades and borers and a cup marked stone.
A nearby barrow of which there are no remains probably due to wartime construction work, was also examined by Andrew resulting in him recording the presence of a grave pit, a fire site and a charcoal patch. Pottery thought to date from the Bronze Age (2500BCE to 800BCE) as well as a holed and a cupped stone were found together with the remains of an oak Cornish shovel at the base of a ditch surrounding the barrow site which measured some 56 feet in diameter.
References
Placenames in Cornwall and Scilly – Craig Weatherhill, Wessex Books in association with Westcountry Books, Launceston, Cornwall 2005
Cornovia – Ancient Sites of Cornwall and Scilly – Craig Weatherhill, Halsgrove, Somerset, 2009
Cornish Archaeology – Hendhyscans Kernow Number 10 – Journal of the Cornish Archaeological Society, 1971
We conclude Myghal Map Serpren’s look at Camborne Church by focussing on the Churchyard Crosses.
The Connor Downs Cross ‘MaenCadoar’
The Connor Downs Cross perhaps better known as ‘Maen Cador’ is found in the churchyard to the West of the tower.
Also known as ‘Meane Cadoarth’, ‘Meane Cadoacor’ and ‘Maen Cadoar’, with ‘Maen’ deriving from the Cornish ‘men’ meaning ‘stone’ and with the descriptor being a personal name, this long stone is believed to date from the Bronze Age (2500BC to 801BC) but was subject to extensive alterations to convert it into a Christian cross in the Early Mediaeval to Mediaeval period.
The Maen Cadoar Cross
It was initially situated on the boundary of the Gwithian and Gwinear Parishes at Connor Downs and recorded in the Gwinear parish records of 1613 as “Maen Cadoarth” and “the Battle Stone” and in 1651 as “the long stone called Meane Cadoarth”. By 1755 it was said to be laying at a roadside between Camborne and Redruth and by 1896 it had become a gate post. Finally, the landowner of the Rosewarne Estate, Mr. Van Grutten, allowed the stone to be moved to its current position in 1907.
Maen Cadoar, obverse view
Measuring six feet ten inches in height with the width of the head being approximately 11 inches, the width of the shaft at the top is eight and half inches which reduces to one foot ten inches, alteration to the head of the former menhir made during the Medieval period (1066 to 1539) resulted in a cross formed by four rounded triangular sinkings. The shaft of the stone is beaded and the decoration consists of a panel with lines of shallow holes.
Local tradition now recorded informs that each hole represents the life of a man killed at the great battle at Reskajeage Downs.
Nothing is currently known of this battle. Some have speculated that the Cadoc included in toponymical research of Reskajeage is in the Cornish Royal lineage of King Doniert and that the spur and battle were named for him. Cadoc, also known as Condor, Candorus and other names, was a legendary Cornish nobleman and 16th Century antiquarians recorded him as being Earl of Cornwall during the Norman conquest.
Reskajeage itself was recorded as Roscadaek in 1317, Reskaseak Downs in 1673, Riskejeake Downs in 1723 and finally Reskajeage Downs in 1888, the name translates from the Cornish ‘ros Cajek’ as ‘Cadoc’s hillspur’. The downs themselves are named after the settlement of Ruschedek recorded in 1235.
Perhaps one of the greatest mysteries of Maen Cadoar is the real possibility that it commemorated a great battle which occurred back in the mists of time.
The Crane, Fenton-Ia or Saint Ia’s Cross
A Mediaeval (1066 to 1539) wayside cross known variously as the Crane Cross, Fenton-Ia and Saint Ia’s Cross stands in the churchyard just over 30 feet southwest of the church building.
The Crane Cross
It was recorded as being in the grounds of the now vanished Saint Ia’s Chapel at Reens in the nearby Troon during 1750 by that great antiquarian, geologist and naturalist the Reverend William Borlase (b.1696 d.1772).
By 1896, it was recorded as being at Crane on the outskirts of Camborne where it was employed as a support for a well’s winding mechanism and five holes had been drilled into the cross shaft and remain to this day as evidence of its misuse.
It was subsequently recovered to Saint Martin and Saint Meriadoc’s Church where it remains.
Standing to a height of some six feet one inch with the head measuring around one foot six inches in diameter and nine inches in thickness, this granite cross is marked with an equal limbed cross with expanding limbs extending towards a beaded edge.
Crane Cross, obverse view.
The monument is quite worn but on one side of the cross shaft which now faces East there is decoration consisting of vertical lines and triangles which is barely visible.
It has been cemented onto a rectangular cross base, also of granite and a cement repair has been conducted near the base of the shaft.
With a slate plaque bearing the words “This ancient Cornish cross was found at Crane, Camborne”, this cross base is worthy of note in its own right.
An iron link remains on the base and the parish stocks were once attached to this.
Current thinking has it that the base was probably part of an original churchyard cross now known as the ‘Chancel Wall Cross’ which is mounted on the external East wall of the church building.
The ‘second’ Crane Cross
The so-called ‘Second Crane Cross’ has now been built into the church wall just inside the South door.
Having also been repurposed during a later period as part of the well workings at Crane as had occurred with the Crane or Saint Ia’s Cross, this small cross slab was discovered under the Saint Ia’s Cross during 1896 by Joseph Holman.
It is thought that this cross slab was carved to place on the wall of the now long lost chapel which stood at Crane and was never designed to be a freestanding wayside cross.
According to the local historian and author Thurstan Collins Peter (b.1854 d.1917) who saw the cross before it was mounted in its current position, the reverse face appeared unfinished possibly due to a flaw in the granite.
A broad limbed Latin cross is visible on its exposed side and the bottom of this ends with a square step.
Brought to the relative safety of the churchyard shortly after its discovery, it was subsequently taken into the church itself and later fixed to the wall inside the South door where it remains.
The Chancel Wall Cross
The final cross to be discussed is known as the ‘Chancel Wall Cross’ for it has been built into the exterior of the Eastern wall of the South Aisle of the church below the window.
This cross is of granite and in what has become known as the Greek style with limbs which expand toward the circumference of the head.
The chancel wall cross
Measuring one foot seven inches in height by one foot seven and half inches in width, a reference to it by the then Curate of the neighbouring All Saints Church at Tuckingmill and a keen antiquarian, the Reverend Arthur Adams, the cross was recut before being mounted which explains its excellent condition.
The Cornish archaeological artist John Thomas Blight FSA (b.1835 d.1911) made note of this cross during 1860 and sketched it.
By 1878, work on the South Aisle of Camborne Church was completed and the cross was built into the external wall where it remains to this day.
As previously noted, it is more than likely that the original base for this cross is now used in the Crane Cross.
Summary
As will be gathered, there is much of great historical interest at Saint Martin and Saint Meriadoc’s Church in Camborne, far more indeed than could ever be written in a precis such as this.
The building and many of the monuments about it are listed and scheduled but this church is primarily a place of worship and a community hall to the rear is used for many different events.
Of note is that part of the interior is undergoing renovation and the original stonework is being exposed which may contain yet more secrets. A brief examination revealed a stone with chevron markings during our visit.
The chevron stone, revealed during recent renovations.
In addition to Sunday services, the church is open to visitors on Tuesdays from 2pm to 4pm and Saturdays from 10am to 12 noon although it is strongly advised that before any visit is made, the necessary enquiries are carried out with the church.
Grateful thanks go to the Church Warden and lay preacher Mr David Fieldsend and to Mrs. Fieldsend for being such charming and accommodating hosts during the visit to this magnificent church.
References
Placenames in Cornwall and Scilly – Craig Weatherhill, Wessex Books in association with Westcountry Books, Launceston, Cornwall 2005
A Guide to Cornish Place-Names – R. Morton Nance, The Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1950
Cornish Church Guide And Parochial History Of Cornwall – Charles Henderson M.A., D. Bradford Barton Ltd., Truro, 1964
Stone Crosses in West Cornwall (including The Lizard) – Andrew Langdon, Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1999
Ancient and High Crosses of Cornwall – Ann Preston-Jones, Andrew Langdon, Elisabeth Okasha, University of Exeter Press, 2021
Early Cornish Sculpture – Ann Preston-Jones, Elisabeth Okasha and Others, British Academy, 2013
Cornish Crosses, Christian and Pagan – T.F.G. Dexter BA BSc PhD, Henry Dexter, Longmans Green and Co., 1938
The Heritage Journal 
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