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Carn Brea
Carn Brea |
Kerrier
NGR: SW 6860 4080 |
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Few people realise that the perhaps the most important
archaeological site in the county (or perhaps further afield) can be
explored on the slopes and summits of Carn Brea hill. Approximately
six thousand years ago a series of massive stone walls were
constructed to encircle the central and eastern tors of the hill and
a double set of ramparts was erected across the slopes, linking the
two and enclosing the area between them.
Excavations in 1970-1973 clearly demonstrated that these ramparts,
reminiscent of the causewayed camps of lowland England, were Early
Neolithic in date (between 4,000 and 3,500 BC) and led the
excavator, Roger Mercer, to coin an entirely new name, “Tor
Enclosure”, to describe this previously unknown and unlooked for
site type; subsequently four other similar sites have been
identified in Cornwall with several more possible sites awaiting
further investigation.
The massive ramparts, which were estimated to have stood over 2m
high and 2m thick, were constructed with granite facings and granite
rubble infill; the facings were built with a series of large
regularly spaced uprights linked by sections of horizontal dry-stone
walling. The walls were not continuous but utilised natural granite
outcrops and large earth-fast boulders to provide a seamless
barrier. Traces of the ramparts are still visible as low spread
stony banks, especially in areas where the vegetation has been kept
low, for instance, along some of the footpaths.
Trenches dug to investigate the interior of the eastern enclosure
revealed traces of rectangular lean-to houses against the internal
face of the ramparts, with evidence for occupation in the form of
flint, stone tools and pottery. Over 700 leaf-shaped flint
arrowheads found clustered around the main entrance to the enclosure
were interpreted as evidence that the site had been attacked by
warriors armed with bows and there were indications that the houses
had been burned down. This was one of the first indications of
warfare in a period previously characterised as one of peaceful
transition from hunting and gathering to a settled lifestyle and
clearance of woodland for the cultivation of newly available
cereals, and the grazing of the equally newly introduced
domesticated sheep, goats and cattle.
The hilltop bears evidence for occupation from just about every
period from the stone tools of hunter gatherers up to the present
day. Though there is no evidence for houses, the Bronze Age is
represented by several finds of bronze tools and weapons, in
addition to some flint barbed-and-tanged arrowheads; settlement at
this time would more likely have been on the lower slopes or in the
valleys. During the Iron Age the ramparts, by then already over
3,000 years old, were repaired and re-used, and settlement of this
period is represented by up to twelve round houses, clearly visible
on the saddle between the two summits, and by finds including
pottery, a quernstone and spindle whorls.
A small number of Roman period finds have been made on the hill, but
there is little evidence for further activity until after the Norman
Conquest. Carn Brea was part of the Tehidy Estate owned by the
Basset family who built the castle on the eastern summit and
established a deer park in the fourteenth century for which the
castle probably became the hunting lodge, complete with chapel. The
building was partially rebuilt and modified during the 18th and 19th
centuries and is currently in use as a restaurant. The deer park was
moved to Tehidy as mining activity around the hill intensified.
A well on the northern slopes beneath the castle is known as the
Giants’ Well and folk tales also refer to the Giant of Carn Brea who
lost in a fight with another giant called Bolster, resident on St
Agnes Beacon, and whose petrified bones can still be seen in the
rock formations that scatter the hilltop.
Carn Brea is owned and managed by Kerrier District Council; there is
a small car park on the saddle area reached by a narrow lane from
the village of Carnkie. Numerous footpaths converge on the hill from
the four directions.
Sources
Mercer, R, 1981. Excavations at Carn Brea, Illogan, Cornwall
- a Neolithic Fortified Complex of the Third Millennium BC in
Cornish Archaeology 20, pp 1-204 |
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Ground & Aerial photographs |
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