Carwynnen Quoit: Awaiting the Capstone

With less than two weeks to go until the capstone is raised at Carwynnen, the project team have issued the following press release:

ROCK ON AT THE GIANTS QUOIT!
Come and watch the final phase of this project on Midsummer’s Day, Saturday 21st June at 3pm.

This will be a milestone, or even capstone! in this remarkable and unique project.

Musicians, poets and dancers are welcome to perform around 4pm and the ‘Ballad of Carwynnen’ will be sung around 5pm.

Some refreshments will be provided. Bring something to share.

‘This monument, which collapsed in the 1960s, is the focus of a remarkable and unique project, a community endeavour to rebuild the monument, develop the site and its surrounding landscape as an educational and leisure amenity, and create a sustainable monument for future generations to enjoy. The project, run by Sustrust is a great example of how rebuilding prehistoric monuments today, in the modern landscape, can impact on social well-being.

The focus has not just been the monument, but also the ecology of the surrounding landscape. Poetry and music have been composed and performed at the monument. Hundreds of people have been involved in this project in a whole range of different ways, and crucially the focus has not just been on what happened in the distant past, but also the relevance and role of the dolmen for people today and into the future.

This is a fantastic project, and one that demonstrates the potential social, ecological and even economic benefits of megalith construction. The ostensibly simple component parts – large boulders essentially – come together to form something magical, a structure that has great appeal to the public imagination. The numbers of volunteer hours, the effort expended to get this far, are evidence of the passion and potential this project is generating.’ Dr Kenneth Brophy @urbanprehistorian. Senior lecturer in Archaeology, Glasgow University.

Pip Richards, Director of Sustrust, said ‘Great thanks go to all those hundreds of people who have been involved in the project over the last 5 years:- our volunteers, photographers, artists, singers, writers, poets, translators, teachers, local children, archaeologists, engineers and friendly neighbours. Together we have done more than restore a scheduled ancient monument in a Cornish Field, we have engendered a sense of belonging and some local pride during this great time of change for the Duchy.

We also thank all our funders, especially those who contributed to our ‘match funding’:- The Tanner Trust, The Cornish Heritage Trust, The Marc Fitch Fund and The Council of British Archaeology. The Cornwall Archaeological Society, Camborne and Truro Colleges and Plymouth University have helped us too.

The uprights awaiting the capstone © Eustace Long 2014

Full details of the day are available on the project website. With a bit of luck and a following wind, we hope to be there on the day, to bring you a first hand account of the placement of the capstone. Watch this space!