Amalveor and the Towednack Hoard

Amalveor is a hamlet in the parish of Towednack, West Penwith, Cornwall.

The settlement of Amalveor is first recorded as “Ammalvoir” in 1337

Amalveor is a Cornish name derived from ‘Amal vuer’ translating as ‘great Amal’. Amal is probably a river name and the word means ‘edge’ ‘boundary’ or ‘slope’ also found in the Cornish place-name Amalebra which itself means ‘lower Amal’ from the Cornish ‘Amal ebry’.

A nearby hut circle and associated field system lays just west of Amalveor, the southern part has been almost destroyed by modern cultivation. The northern section is in moorland and consists of shallow lynchets with cross banks or earth and small stones.

A sunken lane, known locally as Badger’s Lane is part of the ancient Tinner’s Way which curves around the southern edge of Amalveor Downs up onto Lady Downs from the road to Amalveor.

On the 11th December 1931, ancient gold jewellery was discovered at Amalveor Farm about one mile due west of Towednack church, concealed in an ancient stone hedge. The collection of beautiful gold objects, known as the Towednack Hoard, included two twisted neck rings, four armrings and two lengths of unfinished gold rod.

One necklet consisted of a single twisted strand of gold, and the other consisted of three strands loosely twisted together. The gold was very fine, and probably came from Ireland.

The items were dated as middle Bronze Age – about 1000BC, were declared to be treasure trove, and are now in the British Museum. Copies of the finds can be seen in the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro.

This find served to illustrate the immense age of some of Penwith’s stone hedges and points to the virtual certainty that the Tinners’ Way was a well-established trade route at that time.

To the northwest of Amalveor is Sperris Quoit, one of a type of tomb unique to West Penwith, and the nearby Sperris Settlement, a collection of seven Bronze Age hut circles.

Toponymy by the late Craig Weatherhill.

With thanks to Myghal Map Serpren