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Chynalls
St Keverne |
Kerrier
NGR: SW 7855 1745 |
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The coastal path to the south of Coverack follows the line of
Chynalls Cliff, a rugged coastal slope with craggy outcrops that
falls away to the rocky foreshore below. A cliff castle is sited on Chynalls Point at a place where the underlying serpentine rock,
reinforced by a series of basalt dykes, forms a jutting rocky
promontory.
Chynalls cliff castle is formed by two earthen banks built across
the neck of the promontory, with a ditch between. The inner rampart
is stone revetted and the original entrance was probably at the
centre where the footpath now runs. The site has never been
excavated, but there are no obvious traces of any houses or other
internal features.
As with its neighbour,
Lankidden, which lies some 4 km (2.5 miles)
further along the coastal path to the west, Chynalls would have
provided a prominent focus within a landscape quite densely
populated by contemporary settlements or ‘rounds’.
Like the hillforts, cliff castles date from the middle of the Iron
Age (around 500 BC) and both site types are thought to have served a
range of social, administrative or ceremonial functions, rather than
being merely another form of domestic or agricultural settlement.
They are constructed in exposed positions and are subject to the
full force of gales which frequently lash the coast, and it seems
likely that occupation was seasonal or that they were utilised only
on appropriate occasions. They may have served as important trading
centres which could be easily defended if the need arose. The area
was also an important source for ‘native copper’ (ie pure copper
growing as sheets in fissures in the rock) and metalworking or
related activities may also have featured as one of the cliff
castle’s functions. Recently, traces of briquettage (the coarse
pottery dishes used in evaporating sea water to produce salt) have
been found on the cliff top to the south of Chynalls Point and this
again may be associated with the site.
Cliff castles appear to have had long histories as significant
places in the natural landscape, and impressive cliffs and
headlands, like the granite tors of the uplands, seem to have
exercised a particular fascination on people as far back, at least,
as the Neolithic period. Certainly, Bronze Age activity seems to be
well represented on these sites and their utilisation has been long
and continuous up until the end of the Roman period when they seem
to have gone out of favour.
It is not unusual for the stone from disused structures to be taken
for reuse in later mediæval and post-mediæval times, and at Chynalls
stone from the ramparts has been used in the construction of the
nearby cliff gardens.
The strategic situation of the cliff castle is echoed in the
construction of a pillbox on the north eastern flank of the
promontory during World War II as part of the defences for Coverack
harbour (although there are no remains of this visible today). Many
cliff castles are sited adjacent to little coves which would have
provided sheltered havens for beaching boats.
Chynalls Point is accessed from the coastal path which can be joined
at Coverack. However, it is also possible to walk along the coast
from Kennack Sands, a route which passes close to
Lankidden cliff
castle, another site well worth a visit. Sources
Bird, E, 1998. The Coasts of Cornwall. Alexander Associates.
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Ground & Aerial photographs |
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