ALIGNMENTS IN WEST PENWITH (THE LAND'S END PENINSULA) CORNWALL COMPILED BY RAYMOND COX IN ASSOCIATION WITH CHERYL STRAFFON (ed.MEYN MAMVRO*) AND PALDEN JENKINS ============================================================== For a small area of about ten miles by five West Penwith has a remarkably large and varied amount of extant ancient monuments. It is a unique area, even for Cornwall, with a gripping and enfolding atmosphere, revealing the ambient presence of both the historic and the prehistoric. It's not just the ancient sites but the very structure of the landscape itself which produces this feeling, such as the granite flower-covered hedges, ancient fields, tors and the old sunken trackways. In addition, myth, legend, romance, folklore - all seem to gather here around the grey stones. The north of the region consists of a granite plateau with strange rocky tors and a few isolated stunted trees on the moors, and a lower coastal shelf of small fields bounded by stone walls. These fields may have been in continuous use since the Bronze Age. Evidence of tin mining remains with the ruins of the engine houses and other features. The southern and western parts of the peninsula are mainly farmland with fields and hedges divided by lush, tree-covered narrow valleys, producing a stark contrast to the higher moorland. THE ALIGNMENTS The alignments link ancient sites but contain both prehistoric and more modern sites, such as boundary stones and churches. They also incorporate natural features such as headlands. There are, of course, likely to be some coincidental links in such a small area. However, the smaller the area the more exact can be the lines. John Michell's lines were found to be mostly accurate, the average width being 3.28ft.(1 metre), with a maximum of 22.97ft.(7 metres). (Michell used 1:10,000 maps.) Sites include tumuli, standing stones (menhirs), stone circles, Iron Age courtyard house settlements (unique to the Peninsula), hillforts (though these can cover larger areas of ground), cairns, wayside crosses of the Dark Ages and the early Christian era, wells, parish churches, stretches of ancient tracks and parish boundaries, which include boundary stones. (See note below on boundary stones). There appears to be certain nodal sites having at least 4 alignments through each site. Many of the alignments have 4 or more sites such as: Carfury menhir; Boscawen-un Stone Circle; (Early in the 20th century Norman Lockyer found significance in this circle for astronomical observation, and both he and Alexander Thom in other sites.); Merry Maidens Stone Circle; Tresvennack Pillar menhir; The Pipers menhirs; site of the missing Brea menhir; Redhouse 1 menhir; King Arthur's Stone; Tregeseal Stone Circle; Bosiliack barrow; West Lanyon Quoit; Drift menhirs; Trelew menhir; Tregiffian Vean Entrance Grave. There could be additional stones other than those in the list, such as stones in hedges, for example, or stones used as animal rubbing stones or used as gateposts. Identifying such stones can be difficult in a landscape which is full of stones. There is also the question of missing or destroyed stones, as well as stones which today are not in their original locations. Some of the alignments may cross through such unidentified stones. 1 BOUNDARY STONES: There are fourteen parishes in West Penwith and there are numerous boundary stones. There is the feeling of these stones being subsumed into the more prehistoric atmosphere of the land and becoming part of the older stones. Certainly they should be considered as part of the study of alignments and not dismissed simply because they do not reflect a certain attraction or mystique as do the much older monuments. Their purpose is, of course, known. The parish boundaries were created in the 12th century, but they often followed more ancient trackways. Indeed, some of the boundary stones may have been more ancient stones which were then used as boundary stones and then had their parish letters put into them. In such ways the historic and the prehistoric are joined. Whether or not the old stones actually retain memory, as some people believe, they do seem to offer a certain community with the people of the past. It is perhaps especially potent when the more recent past, represented by the boundary stones, is linked with the more distant past. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is emphasized that the list is of alignments - the linking of sites. They are not necessarily leys, in whatever understanding that designation pertains to, such as, for example, the concept of mystical lines of subtle energies across the landscape. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Meyn Mamvro - Ancient Stones and Sacred Sites in Cornwall, 51 Carn Bosavern, St Just, Penzance, TR19 7QX. ================================================================================ THE ALIGNMENTS: LATEST UPDATES 2016 with substantial amendments and additions. We are grateful to Palden Jenkins for his work on this revised list, which includes his own lines, many discovered using Google imagery. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE LIST HEADINGS: JM - alignments found by John Michell and originally documented in his book The Old Stones of Land's End (1974). MM - originally reported and discussed in the journal Meyn Mamvro. EMG - refers to Cheryl Straffon's The Earth Mysteries Guide to Ancient Sites in West Penwith (2010 revision). RC - additional alignments: Raymond Cox. DC - additional alignments: David Cheepen. PJ - additional alignments and amendments: Palden Jenkins. KP – additional alignments: Kenny Price 2 NOTES: 1. Most sites have 8-figure references, but large sites, such as courtyard house settlements, may have 6 figure. 2. The lines through some sites such as chambered tombs, barrows, hillforts ,etc.do not pass through their centres but often along the outer edges. This is a feature found with similar monuments in other areas of the country. 3. Grid references have the SW prefix for this region. They are taken from the respective sources mentioned above, and from the Historic Environmental Record (HER) from where some more accurate grid references have been obtained; also from GPS readings and other sources. 4. A leeway has been made of about 3 metres (9ft.10ins.) from the line for a site to be included. An entry marked ‘near miss’ indicates that the particular site may be a slightly longer distance from the line, up to about 10 metres (32ft.8ins.) 5. Monuments with only two sites but reckoned to feature in astronomical alignments are not listed. Other astronomical alignments are noted. 6. Some of the monuments have been given names, taken from Meyn Mamvro, John Barnatt (Prehistoric Cornwall), and other sources. These names can be of the local area or farm etc. 7.The long-distance lines, such as the Michael/Mary and Athena lines, and the E-line (ref. J. Goddard) which cross the peninsula, are not listed. Also not listed is the phenomenon of the long-distance ‘Parallel Lines’, (Meyn Mamvro issue 3, 1987, reported by B.S.McMillan). They have a bearing of 68.5 east of north. 35 such lines cross the Peninsula, passing through prehistoric sites. 8.There is no significance in the chronological order of the list, except that they are basically in the order of discovery, with John Michell's alignments from the 1970s first in the list. (Alignments have also been grouped to correspond to certain features and these can be studied using Palden Jenkins’s maps on his website. (See www.ancientpenwith.org) 9.Azimuths. With each alignment its Azimuth is given. This records degrees and decimals of degrees from True North, measured clockwise or eastwards. The given angle will be pertinent to rising points of sun, moon and stars, given a level horizon, as at sea level. To calculate setting points simply add 180 degrees to the given figure. However, locally to any ancient site the vertical angle of the horizon in relation to the viewer will change the azimuth for the rising or setting of heavenly bodies at that place. NB. The list should not be regarded as definitive, as it is always subject to amendments or additions. Notification of these is welcome, for which contact the compiler at [email protected]; or Meyn Mamvro at [email protected]; or [email protected] (ideally all three). ======================== 3 Abbreviations: OWP = Outside West Penwith IOS = Isles of Scilly AZ = Azimuth NF = Natural Feature ======================== 1 (JM) Mên Scryfa Inscribed Stone to Mulfra Quoit AZ=85.8° Mên Scryfa Inscribed Stone 4269 3529 Boskednan cairn 4326 3530 Boundary stone 4372 3531 (addition MM/Rory Te 'Tigo) Mulfra Quoit 4519 3535 ------- 2 (JM) Tredinnick Cairn to Tresvennack Pillar menhir AZ=175.4° Tredinneck cairn 4398 3518 (addition RC) Carfury menhir 4400 3400 Trengwainton Carn cross 4405 3219 Tresvennack Pillar menhir 4418 2788 ------- 3 (JM) Mên-an-Tol to Castle-an-Dinas hillfort AZ=86.7° Mên-an-Tol 4264 3493 Mulfra Vean Courtyard House Settlement 454 349 Try menhir 4597 3498 Chysauster Courtyard House Settlement 473 350 Castle-an-Dinas hillfort 485 349 ------- 4 (JM) The Brisons to Noon Veor tumulus AZ=63.2° The Brisons 341 311 (addition PJ) NF Chûn Castle hillfort (NW edge) 405 339 (addition RC) Bosullow Trehyllys Courtyard House Settlement 409 343 Mên-an-Tol 4264 3493 Bodrifty