' ••• n.,3,^ CORNISH ARCHAEOLOGY HENDHYSCANS KERNOW C o v e r : Cornish Archaeology, a study in vertical forms by our member Marjorie I. Somerscales. © The Society, 1963. Cornwall Archaeological Society President C . A. R a l e g h Ra d f o r d , m .a ., d .l it t ., f .b .a ., f .s .a ., f .r .h ist .s . Vice-Presidents Miss D orothy Dudley, m.a., f.s.a. R . H . C orfield Professor E. M. Jope, m.a., b.sc., f.s.a. Hon. Secretary Mrs. Florence Nankivell, Bosgea, Steeple Lane, St. Ives Hon. Treasurer P. A. S. Pool, m.a., 59b, Causewayhead, Penzance Hon. Editor C harles Thomas, m.a., f.s.a., Churchtown, Gwithian, Hayle Hon. Photographic Editor C h a r les W oolf, m .p .s. Director, season 1964 M rs. E. M arie M inter General Committee 1964 Ex officio the officers of the society Desmond Bonney, b.a. ( Wadebridge), Mrs. Patricia Christie (London) H. L. Douch, b.a. {Truro), John Lingwood (Reading), W. B. Picard (Mousehole), R . B. W a r n e r (Chacewater), Charles W oolf, m.p.s. (Newquay); Co-opted, A. G u th r ie (St. Ives)-, also E. J. W igley, b.e.m., and Mrs. J. W ig le y , representing the Wayside Museum, Zermor membership of the society is open to all individuals or groups interested in the history and material culture of Cornwall and the Isles of Stilly. The annual subscription (£1.0.0, or 10/- for full-time students and those under 21) is payable each January 1st, and entitles members to receive the Society’s annual journal, and to be notified of all activities. At least one excavation is held annually, and the A.G.M. takes place in late July or early August. Enquiries about membership, or requests for any publications of the Society or the former Field Club, should be sent to the Secretary. Designed by Ian Mackenzie Kerr, a .r .c .a ., and printed in Cornwall by H. E. Wame Ltd., St. Austell Contents CORNISH ARCHAEOLOGY NO. 3 1 9 6 4 Editorial 2 The Society’s 1962 Excavations: The Henge at Castilly 3 C h a r l e s T h o m a s , m .a ., f .s .a . Excavation of a Menhir at Try, Gulval 15 Vivien R ussell and P. A. S. P o o l , m .a . The Rumps, St. Minver: Interim Report on the 1963 Excavations 26 R. T. B r o o k s Nineteenth-Century Discoveries at Lelant 34 C y r il N o a l l Minor Sites in the Gwithian Area (Iron Age to Recent) 37 C h a r l e s T h o m a s , m .a ., f .s .a . Launceston Castle: An Interim Report 63 A n d r e w S a u n d e r s , m .a ., f .s .a . Settlement-History in Early Cornwall: I, The Hundreds 70 C h a r l e s T h o m a s , m .a ., f .s .a . Industrial Archaeology 80 K e n n e t h H u d s o n Series Excavation News, 1963-1964 83 Digest of Cornish Periodicals: 3, 1963-1964 88 Parochial Check-Lists of Antiquities: Hundred of Penwith (West): 90 7 , Penzance and M adron (V. R u s s e l l ) . Hundred of Powder: 1, Kea. 2 , St. Allen ( R . B. W a r n e r ) Cumulative Index of Cornish Archaeology, List No. 12: April 1963-March 1964 100 Short Notes 102 The Deserted Village of Sheepstall M. I. S o m e r s c a l e s Interesting Discovery near Bude Carew’s ‘Survey of Cornwall’ Tolcreeg Barrow, Gulval P . A . S . P o o l , m .a . Reviews 107 Editorial The Society’s past year has been noteworthy, not only for the outstanding success of our first season at The Rumps, St. Minver, under R. T. Brooks’ leadership (this issue, pp.26 - 33), but also for the continued increase in membership. When we came into being in 1961, even the most sanguine proponents of the new body did not dare to envisage a membership greater than three hundred. As I write (March, 1964), it stands, with block subscribers, at about 380, and we hope to attain our 1964 target of four hundred without too much difficulty. It is perhaps worth pausing to define our standpoint. The expansion of an established, but numerically weak, Field Club into a county society was admittedly a gamble. In all such cases, tactically there must be room for such a society, and a popular demand for it; financially, the increases in publications and other facilities should not immediately lead to a rise in the annual subscription; and socially, new members should feel that they have adequate committee representation, a chance to participate in excavation, in fieldwork, and in print, and are not just so many new entries in a treasurer’s ledger. The enlarged Committee has given a great deal of thought to all these points. It feels now that, despite some anxious moments in the first financial year (when Field Club reserves had to be expended to launch both society and journal), this particular gamble has come off; and that the small beginnings at Porthmeor in the far-off 1930s have grown, logically and smoothly, into a body really representative of what is being done (and what can be done) in Cornish archaeology. The last thing that we would wish is to be considered as in competition with our sister-organisations, particularly the Royal Institution of Cornwall and the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. A high percentage—probably over a third—of our members also belong to these, and other more specialised, county bodies. We see ourselves (quite apart from the conduct of excavations) as offering, firstly, a new journal with a larger format suitable for excavation reports, thus relieving JRIC and Old Cornwall of an awkward burden; secondly, through our annual serial items, the raw material for re­ search, much of which would overcrowd other journals; and thirdly, through centra­ lised oversight of our various field activities, a framework specifically intended to keep archaeological work in Cornwall along the most up-to-date British (which is to say European) lines. It would be impossible to allow the resignation of our senior Vice-President, Miss Ada Williams of Penzance, to pass without proper comment. Miss Williams’ active links with archaeology extend over many decades. She was among the original band of workers under the late Lt. Col. F. C. Hirst, at Porthmeor, and, after the two surviving Foundation Members who are still with us, Mrs. Hyslop (then Mrs. Lloyd) and our current senior Vice-President Miss Dudley, is the senior permanent member of the origi­ nal West Cornwall Field Club, having been elected on August 20th, 1936. She joined the Prehistoric Society in 1939, and in addition to her archaeological work was a most active member of most bodies concerned with Cornish studies. She became a Bard in 1933 and served on the Gorsedd Council for some years, was four times President of Penzance Old Cornwall Society, and in 1950 received the Bolitho Silver Medal of the 2 Royal Geological Society of Cornwall in recognition of her work as its Secretary. Her very many friends may not all be aware that she was equally distinguished in the Method­ ist Church, both as a former missionary in India—where she thought nothing of putting a tiger to flight with her umbrella—and at home as a Local Preacher of many years standing. In her well-earned retirement at Minehead, she carries with her the Society’s affection and best wishes, and our thanks for her many seasons of excavation, her service as Vice-President, and the example of her indomitable courage, cheerfulness, and faith. Largely for the sake of future generations, the Society is now maintaining a detailed record of its own activities, circulars, and ephemeral publications, and is trying to do the same for the West Cornwall Field Club. W.C.F.C. Annual Programmes (single sheet, 8vo., printed) for 1948 (if issued), 1949, and 1953, are needed to complete the series. Will any older member who has any of these, and is willing to present them in a good cause, be kind enough to let the Editor have them? Industrial Archaeology is much to the fore these days. Whether one is still chary of it (review, p. 111), or an ardent supporter (p. 80), it is undesirable (and to some extent impossible) to remain ignorant of developments in this fast-moving field. Particularly in view of the forthcoming C.B.A. Conference in our region, we welcome the article specially written for Cornish Archaeology by Mr. Kenneth Hudson. Mr. Hudson is well-known in the region as the B.B.C.’s Industrial Correspondent at Bristol, and as an active exponent of the subject with which he is now associated. We are most grateful to him for his timely and provocative contribution. The Society’s 1962 Excavations: The Henge at Castilly, Lanivet CHARLES THOMAS, m . a ., f .s . a . General T h e S o c i e t y ’s first field season involved the excavation of the large Class I henge monument at Castilly (Bousfield, 1954), a small barrow or ring-ditch on the nearby Innis Downs, and the outer rampart of the presumably Iron Age hill-fort at St. Dennis.