Cornwall's Hidden History Blog
“Half hidden at the end of secret pathways, stumbled upon near old streams, nestled at the bottom of remote valleys far from modern-day roads and cottages, Cornwall’s holy wells are places of peace and contemplation, and refuge from the strains and pressures of 20th century civilization.” -Cheryl Straffon. In his book Secret Shrines Paul Broadhurst […]
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I spend much of my time writing about and photographing the ancient monuments that our ancestors have left behind in the Cornish landscape. There are many well-known and enigmatic sites that captivate us, places that are the subject of the most study and the ones most likely to end up on Instagram! It isn’t very […]
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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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Figgy Dowdy had a well On top of Carn Marth hill She locked it up night and day Lest people carry the water away! Carn Marth is the highest of a range of hills that stretch from Gwennap to Camborne. Rising 757ft (230m) above the village of Lanner, it is riddled with quarries and old […]
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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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This spring make some time to say farewell to Saint Piran. He is preparing to make another miraculous journey. His passage from Ireland to Cornwall floating on a granite millwheel was a few hundreds years ago and when he drifted ashore on the wild Cornish coast he brought with him christianity and the secret of […]
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Today is the 5th March, Saint Piran’s Day, a festival celebrated across Cornwall with marches, parades, music and some delightfully over-enthusiastic nationalism. I went on the St Piran’s Day pilgrimage to the cross and chapel in the dunes near Perranporth today (2017) below are some of my pictures. I was freezing cold and the wind did […]
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Everything has a beginning, a middle and an end. The Tamar river in many ways marks the beginning of Cornwall. And of course we all know where to find the End. It is the village of Lanivet, not far from Bodmin, that marks the middle.You see this little place’s claim to fame is that it is meant […]
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