Desirable Residences
Homes and Settlements
During the Neolithic and the earlier Bronze Age people lived mostly in wooden structures. Later, stone was increasingly used as wood became less available - and this leaves traces of settlements for us to see today.
There are quite a few ancient settlements in Penwith. Most come from the Iron Age and Romano-British period, between 500 BCE and CE 200. Some are older, from the Late Bronze Age around 1000 BCE. Two settlements are preserved - at Chysauster and Carn Euny - while others survive as piles of stones in fields or on moorlands.
When you visit settlements, sit down, relax and feel the place - you can get whiffs of the lives of people who lived and worked there two thousand or more years ago. You might be sitting where one of them once sat.
Quicklinks: Bodrifty | Bosporthennis | Carn Euny | Chysauster | Goldherring | Bosullow Trehyllis
A pool near Bodrifty, and part of its village landscape - the kids will probably have played around it two millennia ago. Behind is Carn Galva, the axis mundi or magical centre of West Penwith
Signboard at Bodrifty iron age village. Click the pic to enlarge it
Bodrifty ancient village
Bodrifty is worth a visit. It lies under Carn Galva, occupied a long time, though the remains come from the Iron Age. It has roundhuts, storage rooms and an interesting rock and pool. Nearby is a 1990s-reconstructed Iron Age roundhut (ask permission to visit).
The reconstructed iron age roundhut at Bodrifty
Carn Galva as seen from Bodfrifty
Bodrifty. Was this once a bedroom or store room?
Bodrifty iron age village
An interesting alignment of stones at Bodrifty, pointing at Little Galva, a carn just below Carn Galva. Click to enlarge
Not far away is Bosporthennis (pr: Bosphrennis), one of the centres of activity in Penwith in early times. Many settlement remains are here, including a rare beehive hut and quoit. It is approached from the Zennor road or the Nine Maidens.
Bosporthennis iron age settlement
Bosporthennis
Bosporthennis iron age settlement
Bosporthennis
Bosporthennis
Carn Euny is a restored Iron Age village with roots in the Neolithic. What we see today was built between 200 BCE and the 300s CE. It has a unique fogou and two holy wells. It was prosperous in its heyday.
Carn Euny
Carn Euny
Carn Euny
Carn Euny fogou
Carn Euny
Chysauster is a preserved Late Iron Age settlement, open to the public. It contains ten courtyard houses. These have a covered courtyard with rooms and workshops around it - unique to Penwith and good for wind protection.
Chysauster courtyard village
Chysauster courtyard village
Only a few settlements were placed where they were for geomantic reasons. Setting, water sources, land or a trackside location were important instead. Some were there for other reasons than residence - such as a big roundhut at Tregeseal (for ceremonial uses).
Chysauster
Goldherring
Chysauster
Goldherring has a workplace feeling: many buildings look like workshops and stores. It was occupied in three phases in the Iron Age, Roman period and early Middle Ages. Later it seems to have been a forge and home for a craftsman.
Goldherring
Goldherring
Goldherring
A pit, store or basin in one of the workshops at Goldherring
Bosullow Trehyllis lies below Chûn Castle, serving the hill-compound and probably home to artisans and those working at Chûn. The village has many houses and a fogou, near a track from Carn Galva to Caer Brân and Boscawen-un.
Bosullow Trehyllis
Bosullow Trehyllis
Bosullow Trehyllis
Botrea Settlement - the remains of a courtyard house
The remains of a roundhut (called a hut circle) at Sancreed
Lesingey Round has been home to a community of up to fifty people, and it has a long history from the neolithic to medieval times. Now it is overgrown with trees (worth visiting at bluebell time in spring). It might have been a specialist compound for particular people such as artisans, medicine people, midwives or druids. It is a major alignment centre - not a comfortable option for an ordinary village.
To find these sites on a detailed online map, click here: Map of the Ancient Sites of West Penwith
Many more settlements, hut circles and courtyard houses are scattered around West Penwith.
You can find them on the online Map of Ancient Sites in West Penwith or Ordnance Survey maps.
For more about settlements: Ancient Penwith's Settlements and Homesteads