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The National Council for Metal Detecting is lobbying the Government for the return of commercial detecting rallies. The DCMS has responded:
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Given that most detectorists and most archaeologists (including PAS) disapprove of commercial detecting rallies on the grounds they are particularly damaging, not to mention morally dubious, it is to be hoped the answer is a resounding NO.
Interestingly, just about the only “further investigation” the DCMS will be undertaking is to ask PAS what they think. We can but hope that PAS has the testicular fortitude to tell them!
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More Heritage Journal views on artefact collecting
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A recent Twitter thread suggests it has, for they assert that “The PAS don’t promote detecting, they take a pragmatic approach to what is allowed under the law in England and Wales. What they do promote is responsible detecting.” But in “promoting” responsible detecting they have actually aided and sustained irresponsible detecting – for anyone, no matter how acquisitive or immoral, can tell farmers they are responsible and thus gain access to fields.
Yet PAS was founded to END non-reporting! As Baroness Blackstone told the Lords so in 1992: “The aim is to change public attitudes to recording finds so that it becomes normal practice for finders to report them“. Yet, disgracefully, 28 years later most detectorists STILL don’t report what they find and PAS provides them with a verbal cloak to wear when they speak to landowners.
So the Founders’ aims have been frustrated – and saying it’s a pragmatic approach doesn’t change that reality. The Founders believed archaeology is best dealt with not by amateurs but scientifically by professionals and there’s absolutely no reason why PAS shouldn’t be saying so very clearly, to every landowner. It already has Guidance notes. This is what the Founders would want it to say:
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More Heritage Journal views on artefact collecting
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And so our series on Cornish Quoits comes to an end, with the last two (plus a small bonus) of our baker’s dozen in the extreme south-west.
12. West Lanyon Quoit
Half a mile or so from it’s much more famous neighbour lies West Lanyon Quoit. Only one upright and a collapsed capstone remain, after the quoit was dug out of an earthen mound (barrow) when the landowner directed his servants to remove the earth from the barrow for compost.
The cromlech was discovered in 1790, and the following account (by Rev Malachi Hitchins) was published in the Archaeologia in 1803 (Vol XIV, quoted in Cotton’s Celtic Remains p 37 ):
The gentleman who owns the estate of Lanyon happening to be overtaken by a shower took shelter behind a bank of earth and stones, and remarking that the earth was rich he sent his servants to carry it off when having removed near one hundred cart loads they observed the supporters of a cromlech from which the covering stone was slipped off on the south side but still leaning against them. This covering stone is about 13 feet long by 10 broad. The south supporter on which it still leans is 6 feet high and 5 wide, that on the west is nearly of the same height and about 9 feet wide. The east supporter, since cleft and carried away, was 10 feet wide and with the other two formed almost a triangular kistvaen with a space of about a foot at the north end uninclosed. As soon as the gentleman observed it to be a cromlech he ordered hismen to dig under it where they soon found a broken urn with ashes and going deeper they found half a skull, the thigh bones and most of the other bones of a human body lying in such a manner as fully proved that the grave had been opened before and the flat stones which formed the grave had been all removed out of their places. The cap stone and the two remaining supporters are in the middle of a hilly field two or three furlongs W of the much more frequented Lanyon Quoit.
Further information:
Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society Transactions
Cornwall HER
The Megalithic Portal
Wikipedia
13. Chun Quoit
Chun Quoit is the most westerly of the extant Cornish Quoits, and the end of our journey. Affectionately known as the ‘megalithic mushroom’ due to its appearance atop Chun Downs, Chun Quoit is structurally very simple, consisting of four inward leaning uprights, topped by a bulbous capstone. It is considered the most complete, but also the smallest remaining example. Like many other quoits, Chun sits upon a low stony mound or platform and may have at one time been buried beneath a mound of earth to form a tumulus.
Further information:
Cornwall HER
The Megalithic Portal
Wikipedia
Bonus: Bosullow Quoit
Not a genuine quoit, but a piece of ‘farmer artwork’. This replica stands at a road junction on Bosullow Common, about a mile or so from both Lanyon and Chun Quoits. The capstone rests on three uprights, and the whole stands less than a metre tall.
An interesting distraction/tribute.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this brief visit to the Cornish Quoits.
Nearing the end of our series on Cornish Quoits, and nearing the end of the land, we continue with three more Penwithian quoits.
9. Mulfra Quoit
Well placed at the summit of Mulfra Hill, with excellent all-round views, before the capstone collapsed this would have resembled the box-like construction of Chun Quoit which we’ll visit at the end of our journey. The outstanding feature of the 3.2m by 3.0m capstone here is a chamfered ridge on the base which would have fit snugly inside the uprights to support the capstone. Only three uprights remain, it is unknown whether there would have originally been more.
Further information:
Cornwall HER
The Megalithic Portal
Wikipedia
10. Bosporthennis Quoit
Pronounced ‘Bosprennis’, three of possibly four original upright stones survive. The capstone is somewhat damaged, having been removed and unsuccessfully trimmed for use as a possible millstone. The area around Bosporthennis is rich in antiquities, and a quoit in the area is mentioned in Hunt’s Popular Romances of the West of England:
In Bosprenis Croft there was a very large coit or cromlech. It is said to have been
fifteen feet square, and not more than one foot thick in any part. This was broken in
two parts some years since, and taken to Penzance to form the beds for two ovens.
This description does not match the extant cromlech in any way, so must refer to a lost monument. One wonders how many more have been lost in this way?
Correspondence in the Cornish Telegraph in 1871 confirms that the capstone of the existing quoit had fallen ‘long before the living memory of anyone in 1865’.
Further information:
Cornwall HER
The Megalithic Portal
Wikipedia
11. Lanyon Quoit
Possibly the most photographed monument in West Penwith, Lanyon Quoit is sadly, despite appearances, possibly the most damaged of the Cornish quoits. The stones were (poorly) restored in 1824, after collapsing in a storm in 1815. The quoit was described prior to its collapse in Hitchin’s History of Cornwall:
At Lanyon… the incumbent stone of this monument is about nineteen feet long; but its thickness, which is not proportioned to its area, is rather irregular. In the middle, and on its eastern edge, it is sixteen inches; at each end rather less; but at the western edge it is full two feet. The two principal supporters of the incumbent stone were either not originally placed in a true perpendicular, or they have since been forced from it by the prodigious weight which they have been compelled to sustain. At present they have an inclination in their summits towards the verge of the incumbent stone, and consequently they recede from each other in the same proportion. There is however no danger of their ultimately giving way (sic). For as the stone by which they are pressed, has its under surface somewhat inclined towards a concave form, the weight must chiefly rest on the outward extremities of the supporters, and therefore prevent them from falling asunder, as much so as if the supporters had been exactly perpendicular, and the incumbent stone strictly flat and horizontal.
This monument, which is more elevated than anyone besides of this kind which the county can produce, being sufficiently high for a man to sit on horseback under it, stands on a low bank of earth, that is raised about two feet above the surrounding soil.
Given that the monument now requires anyone over 5’9″ to crouch when passing under it, it is clear that the reconstruction caused grave damage to the height of the supporting stones. As stated on Wikipedia (link below), on 19 October 1815, Lanyon Quoit fell down in a storm. Nine years later enough money was raised by local inhabitants to re-erect the structure, under the guidance of Captain Giddy of the Royal Navy. One of the original stones was considered too badly damaged to put back in place, thus there are only three uprights today and the structure does not stand so high as it once did. The reconstruction also placed the structure at right angles to its original position. There is a faint carving on one of the uprights, ‘1824’, the date of the reconstruction.
Further information:
The Stonehenge project is going to be put back by another year. Those who oppose massive new damage to the World Heritage landscape (and that includes UNESCO) will be gratified but they may have much more to celebrate:
Although Transport Minister Shapps wants us to “build ourselves out of the crisis”, the delay may be long enough for him to find the Government’s funds have run out – and the value-for-money calculations have deteriorated.
So the chances of the Government giving him a couple of billion pounds to shave a few minutes off the journey to Cornwall are remote. Could this latest delay be the crucial straw that breaks the scheme’s back?
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How many cups of coffee will it take before someone tells him there’s no money? And how many cups will EH, HE and NT drink while drafting a response to any cancellation? Will they say “hooray, the damager is avoided” or express regret that it can’t go ahead?
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We continue our series on Cornish Quoits, moving westward as we head toward West Penwith, with a brief look at three more quoits.
6. Carwynnen Quoit
In the space of the last 200 years, the Giant’s Quoit at Carwynnen has collapsed and been rebuilt twice! Both times earth tremors were responsible for the collapse, the last happening in the 1960’s, resulting in the pile of rubble shown below, augmented by subsequent field clearance.
Carwynnen Before Restoration
The field in which the quoit is sited was purchased by the Sustainable Trust in 2009, and plans were laid to rebuild the quoit. During the excavation of the site, the “floor” of the monument, an intact stone pavement was found to be made up of “a narrow strip of compacted small stones which formed a hard-standing surface arranged in a doughnut-like circuit. At the front end of the monument, a fine narrow strip of the pavement extended well beyond the shelter of the capstone“. The full story of the excavation can be found on the ‘Giant’s Quoit’ link below.
Carwynnen After Restoration
Further information:
The Giant’s Quoit
Cornwall HER
The Megalithic Portal
Wikipedia
7. Sperris Quoit
Some 300m NE of Zennor Quoit (see below), Sperris is in a poor state, consisting of a single upright and three fallen stones. The capstone is missing, presumably used in construction of the dilapidated mine workings nearby. Despite it’s proximity to Zennor, this can be a difficult site to find, although recent clearance work by the Penwith Landscape Partnership has made it a bit more accessible.
Further information:
Cornish Archaeology Soc. Journal 6 – membership protected
Cornwall HER
The Megalithic Portal
Wikipedia
8. Zennor Quoit
In 1861 Zennor Quoit narrowly escaped destruction; more details are given in an extract from the Cornish Telegraph of 4th September of that year.
A farmer had removed a part of one of the upright pillars, and drilled a hole into the slanting quoit, in order to erect a cattle-shed, when news of the vandalism reached the ears of the Rev. W. Borlase, Vicar of Zennor, and for 5s. the work of destruction was stayed, the Vicar having thus strengthened the legend that the quoit cannot be removed.
We can be grateful to Dr. W Borlase (great-grandfather of the Rev. Borlase mentioned above) for a sketch of the quoit before the capstone had collapsed into its current position.
Zennor Quoit in 1769, drawn by WIlliam Borlase. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The local legend mentioned above states that the quoit possesses mystical powers and that any stones removed from the structure will soon mysteriously find their way back in the middle of the night. As related by C Taylor Stephens to Robert Hunt:
“I was in the neighbourhood of Zennor in 1859, and by accident came across the Zennor cromlech, and was struck with the mode of its construction (not having heard of its existence before), and thinking it bore some resemblance to the Druidical altars I had read of, I inquired of a group of persons who were gathered round the village smithery, whether any one could tell me anything respecting the heap of stones on the top of the hill. Several were in total ignorance of their existence. One said, ‘Tes caal’d the gient’s kite; thas all I knaw.’ At last, one more thoughtful, and one who, I found out, was considered the wiseacre and oracle of the village, looked up and gave me this important piece of information,–‘Them ere rocks were put there afore you nor me was boern or thoft ov; but who don it es a puzler to everybody in Sunnur (Zennor). I de bleve theze put up theer wen thes ere wurld was maade; but wether they was or no don’t very much mattur by hal akounts. Thes I’d knaw, that nobody caant take car em awa; if anybody was too, they’d be brot there agin. Hees an ef they wus tuk’d awa wone nite, theys shur to be hal rite up top o’ th hil fust thing in morenin. But I caant tel ee s’ much as Passen can; ef you ‘d zea he, he ‘d tel he hal about et.'”
The stones now seen in front of the quoit are the remains of the cattle shed subsequently built by the farmer mentioned above.
In 1882, another member of the Borlase family was mentioned in a report of a field trip to the quoit by the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society:
Mr. Borlase, one of the members, met with a man who had made a find beneath the Zennor Quoit. The man explained that about a year ago, finding that other people were searching about, he and his son thought they would have ‘a bit of a speer too.’ After removing some of the earth, they came upon a flat stone, which they ‘shut’ (blasted). They then removed more earth and came upon another flat stone, which they also ‘shut.’ Underneath it they found what Mr. Borlase said was an ancient whetstone, which no doubt was buried with the dead, in order that he might have something to sharpen his weapons with in ‘the happy hunting grounds’ to which he was supposed to have gone. Mr. Borlase had found similar stones, with urns containing the ashes of the dead, in different barrows. Under this quoit he found part of an urn. Mr. Borlase expressed a hope that there would be no more ‘shutting’ near the quoit, because it ought to be regarded as sacred as the grave of a father.
Further information:
A proposed ‘Institute of Detectorists’ is to run a course on “Metal detecting, archaeological principles and the ‘Contextual Detectorist’“. It’s meant for people helping in archaeological surveys and Dr Mike Heyworth an acting tutor, says it’s “nothing to do with any “collection-driven exploitation””
Sadly, that’s unrealistic. Thousands of detectorists tell thousands of farmers they are amateur archaeologists, are “only in it for the history” and report everything to PAS when PAS’s statistics and EBay show otherwise. If they can show farmers a certificate of attendance from an “archaeology” course the opportunity for “collection driven exploitation” will be greatly enhanced.
So today we’re launching our own online course. We were inspired to do so by Michael Lewis of PAS who just opined: “there is a skill to using a detector effectively that comes with experience”. We disagree. The only skill they have is in distinguishing the beeps from “good” digging targets from what they term “rubbish”. Archaeological work requires no such expertise. All beeps matter.
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We continue our series on Cornish Quoits with a brief look at the remaining quoits in the Bodmin Moor area.
3. Lesquite Quoit
As can be seen below, the quoit is collapsed, the capstone leaning against one of the two remaining uprights. According to local folk traditions, the stones were thrown here from Helman Tor by the devil while playing with them.
A small ‘salvage’ excavation in 1973, during the installation of a water pipe, revealed very little in the way of finds.
Further information:
Cornish Archaeology Soc. Journal 15 – membership protected
Cornwall HER
The Megalithic Portal
Wikipedia
4. Pawton Quoit
A massive capstone rests horizontally on three uprights with a further three uprights making up the rest of the chamber. Estimated at 14 tons, this makes it the heaviest capstone in Cornwall. The quoit sits atop a mound made up of small quartz pebbles. This may include field clearance detritus.
Further information:
Cornwall HER
The Megalithic Portal
Wikipedia
5. The Devil’s Quoit (or Coyt)
Described in Gilbert’s Parochial History of Cornwall:
In the parish of Columb Major stands Castell-an-Dinas. Near this castle, by the highway, stands the Coyt, a stony tumulus so called, of which sort there are many in Wales and Wiltshire, as is mentioned is the ‘Additions to Camden’s Britannia,’ in these places, commonly called the Devils Coyts. It consists of four long stones of great bigness, perpendicularly pitched in the earth contiguous with each other, leaving only a small vacancy downwards, but meeting together at the top; over all which is laid a fiat stone of prodigious bulk and magnitude, bending towards the east in way of adoration (as Mr Llwyd concludes of all those Coyts elsewhere), as the person therein under it interred did when in the land of the living; but how or by what art this prodigious flat stone should be placed on the top of the others, amazeth the wisest mathematicians, engineers, or architects to tell or conjecture. Coit, in Belgic-British, is a cave, vault, or co[r?]n-house, of which coyt might possibly be a corruption.” –Gilbert’s Parochial History.
The quoit was destroyed in 1870, and commemorated with a plaque from St Columb Old Cornwall Society in 1980.
Further information:
Simply put, a quoit (in megalithic terms) is the Cornish name for what elsewhere would be called a dolmen, cromlech or portal tomb. There is a useful article on the etymology of the name on Wikipedia. Cornwall is blessed with several excellent examples of this monument type, being a construct consisting of several large stones placed upright to support a capstone or ‘table’, creating a chamber ostensibly used for burial practices in the neolithic period. There is some evidence that these may have been covered with mounds of earth, but most of the Cornish examples are now bare of any such mounds, and several are in a state of collapse.
In this short series over the next week or so, we shall take a brief virtual tour of a baker’s dozen of Cornish Quoits, moving in a line roughly N and E to SW across the Duchy: five in the area of Bodmin Moor, seven in West Penwith and another in between:
1. Hendraburnick Quoit
We start with a site that is called a ‘quoit’, but which is somewhat disputed. Hendraburnick ‘Quoit’ “is a long, rounded and flattened epidiorite stone, propped up and laid to rest upon a platform of smaller slate stones at one end, and naturally occurring slate bedrock on the other.”
In other words, not a quoit at all. It is probably better categorised as a ‘propped stone’, of which several are known across Cornwall. It is, however, a site of interest as an investigation begun in 2013 uncovered a multitude of finds including flint arrowheads, a faience bead, and most spectacular of all, a plethora of rock art. Although the stone was known to contain a number of cup marks (which sparked the investigation), the number of cup marks (over 100!) plus the extent of other rock art carvings on the stone was a surprise to the investigating team, who came to a conclusion that the site may have been used for moonlight or nighttime rituals.
The ‘quoit’ lies on private land and cannot be viewed without the prior agreement of the landowners.
Further information:
Tom Goskar’s Blog
PAST – The Prehistoric Society – see pp12-13
The PostHole
Cornish Archaeology Soc. Newsletter – membership protected
Time and Mind – paywalled (but see Sci-Hub 😉 )
Cornwall HER
The Megalithic Portal
Wikipedia
2. Trethevy Quoit
The largest of the Cornish Quoits, Trethevy is an imposing sight, with the capstone seemingly defying gravity, resting at a jaunty angle on the uprights below it.
There have been discussions in the past around the fact that the quoit may not be as originally designed, but that it has undergone ‘reconstruction’. This has not been proven as yet. Another possibility is that the stones may have slipped at some point in the past. There is also an enigmatic hole at the highest point of the twelve-foot capstone – a photographic opportunity waiting for the sun (or moon?) to be in the right spot?
Owned by English Heritage, but managed by the Cornwall Heritage Trust, who now own the field in which it sits, an opportunity arose to carry out a geofizz survey. This identified a possible platform of stones around the quoit, particularly to the west side.
This platform, comprised of greenstone and extending some 20m by 12m, was confirmed by excavation last year. A preliminary report of the excavation was contained in the Cornwall Archaeology Society newsletter 151, October 2019.
Further information:
Cornwall Heritage Trust
Cornwall Heritage Trust Quoit Info Pack (PDF)
Cornwall HER
The Megalithic Portal
Wikipedia
Press release from the National Trust
Avebury closed for Summer Solstice
The National Trust have today (Monday 18 May) confirmed that neither Avebury nor its land across the Stonehenge Landscape, will be open for this year’s summer solstice and are asking visitors not to travel to the area.
Avebury: South-west quadrant
The celebrations which take place every midsummer, on or around the 21st June, regularly attract in the region of 10,000 people to Stonehenge and surrounding areas including Avebury.
A spokesperson said: ‘Our priority is always to ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff, volunteers, attendees and residents. This decision was made due to the on-going ban on mass gatherings, and the need to maintain social distancing – still the mainstay of measures to combat Coronavirus.’
English Heritage who manage Stonehenge have also announced that they will not be able to host the solstice at the World Heritage site, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all attendees, volunteers and staff.
The National Trust has consulted widely with its partners (English Heritage, Wiltshire Council, the Police, Ambulance services and Avebury village community).
The spokesperson said: ‘The National Trust recognise the spiritual importance and relevance of the summer Solstice and understands that this will come as a great disappointment to many but also not a huge surprise given the on-going pandemic crisis and a ban on mass gatherings. We hope that this announcement will be received with the understanding of everyone who likes to celebrate this important time of year and traditional acts of worship.’
Many other live events have either been cancelled or postponed this year due to the ongoing battle against the disease and to limit its spread.
The camping sites, the village pub, car parks and toilets will all be closed.
Each year the Trust works closely with partners through the Avebury Solstice Planning Group to manage visitors who come to Avebury for the Solstice aiming to ensure
the event allows peaceful access for celebrants and to minimise disruption to the village and neighbouring farms. We thank everyone for their understanding and hope to welcome summer solstice visitors back next year.
The Heritage Journal 
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