Cornwall's Hidden History Blog
If you had happened to walk out on to St Catherine’s Point from the town of Fowey in the winter of 1866 a strange scene would have greeted you. Above the sound of the waves breaking on the rocks below you would have heard a chink of metal on stone and the quiet hum of […]
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The story of the Ring and Thimble Stones is a striking reminder that small, seemingly insignificant objects can be important signposts in the landscape that can point us towards much bigger stories. These little stones, beside a road just outside Newlyn, illustrate how fact and folklore can merge and transform over the centuries, how meaning […]
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This Bronze Age standing stone can be found in a field about two miles west of the Merry Maidens Stone Circle and a mile south of St Buryan Church. Standing about 6ft (2m) high it has a wonderful irregular shape that means that it looks slightly different from whichever angle you view it from. For […]
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The Iron Age Cornish (if we can affectionately call them that) were far more outward looking than we would perhaps assume. Their world, around 2000 years ago, was not confined to the granite peninsula that they called home. The profitable tin trade ensured that they made contact with civilisations from across the Irish Sea, into […]
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The English Civil War was a conflict that divided a nation, tore families and communities apart and resulted in the death of an estimated 200,000 people making it the bloodiest war ever fought on British soil. On the 16th May 1643 about half a mile from the town of Stratton one of the most important […]
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I first spoke to Sam Davison two years ago, back in 2020, when he contacted me to tell me that he was on a mission to visit and photograph every ancient standing stone in Cornwall! I remember thinking at the time that it was a pretty ambitious project (that’s an understatement!) but the images he […]
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The St Austell region of Cornwall, the Clay Country as it’s known, is full of mountains – the giant white spoil heaps left behind by the industry of the area crowd the horizon and tower over the grey villages. In the centre of it all is Hensbarrow Beacon, a natural summit that was once the […]
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It may be a little off the beaten track but with breath-taking views across the Cornish countryside and a mysterious atmosphere Bury Castle near Cardinham is well worth seeking out. This castle has long been a forgotten treasure hidden in our landscape and the theory that it may be connected to the legends of King […]
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In the shadow of Rough Tor is an area of Bodmin Moor known as Crowdy Marsh. Today it is the site of a large reservoir but in the 19th century this was considered a dangerous place, an evil morass that trapped ponies, cattle and men on horseback. The writer J. W Malin called it ” […]
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Roche Rock is a spectacular geological phenomenon that has been the focal point of the surrounding communities for so long that there are numerous ancient myths and legends associated with it. I set out to discover the history of this striking landmark and the many stories that seem to cling to these enigmatic ruins like […]
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