Cornwall's Hidden History Blog
We’ve all heard the stories. Unsuspecting travellers on some dark, remote road being led astray by strange lights, false paths or mysterious strangers and becoming hopelessly lost. The Cornish call it being piskie-led, (it often happens on the way home from the pub) and there are certain paths that were once famous for such misadventures. […]
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In the past writers have described the Goonhilly Downs on the Lizard peninsula as a bleak, remote and wild. Said to be the haunt of notorious highway men, travellers often complained of disorientating drifts of fog. But the day I visited the downs were beautiful. The only drifts were of pink and white heather. There […]
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This strange tumbled rock tor feels like an island as you approach it through the surrounding marshy ground. Looking up at the jutting outcrops of stone it appears like a castle, a fortress, rising above you into the blue sky. Helman, like the mighty Carn Brea or Trencrom further south, is an example of what […]
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Mysterious and unique to Cornwall, fogous have had archaeologists scratching their heads for hundreds of years and they are no closer to solving the mystery. These underground passages are only found the far west of Cornwall, usually close to an ancient settlement. Their name, pronounced foo-goo, means cave in Cornish but they are also known […]
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Chapel Carn Brea is said to be the first and last hill in Britain. Just south of St Just in Penwith it overlooks the dramatic rocky peninsula of Lands End and stunning Sennen coastline. This hill is a focal point in this part of Cornwall, and has been for thousands of years. The First and […]
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In recent weeks the local papers have been alive with the news of a unique discovery. A 4000 years old cremation urn was uncovered, beautifully complete, during an excavation of Hendersick Barrow, near Looe. There is understandably great excitement about what these remains can tell us. What they can uncover about our ancient ancestors and […]
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Cornwall is blessed with a long and fascinating history. Although visitors are often drawn to the county by the so called ‘Poldark effect’ many more are also seeking out our enigmatic prehistoric monuments. I wanted to take a look at the hidden threat to this precious heritage. An Outstanding Landscape Cornwall has some of the […]
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In Cornwall the landscape around us is alive with stories. As a people we seem to have always formed a close relationship with the natural geology that surrounds us. Here it is nearly impossible for a rock to be just a rock! There is always a tale attached and sometimes more than one! Men-amber rock […]
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Some places feel lost even when you find them . . . Goodaver stone circle is one of those places. Hidden on an peaceful area of Bodmin Moor between Goodaver Downs and Smith’s moor this circle is rarely visited, mostly because it is so hard to get too. I first visited the circle last year […]
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There are a few places in Cornwall that are really special to me that I tend keep to myself and until now the logan rock on Louden hill was one of those places. But after walking out there today I decided its just too fun not to share! Bodmin moor is relatively small when you […]
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