First stop of the day is St Michael's Mount which has been tempting us for the past few days from across the water. You have to walk across a causeway which is tidal and today due to the weather it took extra time to be able to cross it. We ended up wading a bit before it was dry as we were in a hurry.
By the time of the Norman conquest in 1066, St Michael's Mount had come into the possession of the monks of its sister isle, Mont St Michel in Normandy. In the 12th century it was their hands that built the church and priory that still lie at the heart of the castle today.
It has been a site of conflict over the years.
From 1193 when the Mount was seized by Henry La Pomeray who disguised his men as pilgrims, through the War of the Roses in 1473 when the Mount was held by the Earl of Oxford, to the Civil War, when Royalists valiantly held back the forces of Oliver Cromwell – the Mount has weathered many times of battle. There is a row of cannons which once drove a Napoleonic ship to its capture on Marazion beach and the top of the Church tower was where the first beacon was lit of the series that warned London of the approach of the Spanish Armarda.
Great views from the top back to Marazion and Penzance.
The inside of the castle was very impressive. It had been renovated in Victorian times.
The stonework of the church was 12th century but the rest of the church had been renovated several times.
This Iron Age village called Chysauster was occupied almost 2,000 years ago and is one of the finest examples of such in the country.
The village was made up of of stone-walled homesteads known as 'courtyard houses', found only on the Land's End peninsula and the Isles of Scilly. The houses line a 'village street', and each had an open central courtyard surrounded by a number of thatched rooms.
The people of Chysauster were farmers and archaeological investigations have revealed that cereal crops were grown in the fields surrounding the village. It is also highly likely that pigs and goats were kept by the settlers and the site is believed to have been occupied for around 100 years. The reason for their departure is not known but could have possibly have been due to a decrease in the population or the availability of fuel.
Great roast lunch at St Justs. Then onto Ballowell Barrow.
This is one of the largest and most complex of the prehistoric funerary monuments that cluster along the West Penwith coastline. Often sited in dramatic locations, it is likely that they were built by local communities to provide striking shrines or tombs for the dead
Next we visited the Levant Mine. This mine and its Beam Engine are National Trust property at Trewellard, Pendeen, near St Just. Its main attraction is that it has the world's only Cornish beam engine still operated by steam on its original site.
The property is on the site of the former Levant Mine, established in 1820 and closed in 1930, where tin and copper ores were raised. The mine reached a depth of about 600 metres. It got the nickname "mine under the sea", because tunnels were driven up to 2.5 km from the cliffs under the sea.
The guide spoke of the life of the miners and their families and it sounded very hard.
Men, women and children worked in the mines. Women ('bal-maidens') did many of the above-ground tasks, and small children would fetch and carry and do odd jobs.
Considering the length of the miner's working day and the arduous nature of the work, we can only wonder at their stamina. Many men walked up to 5 miles to the mine from their homes and, after climbing down hundreds of yards of vertical ladders, walked a further mile or two to actually began work. They were only paid from this time and according to what they brought out. After 8 hours of backbreaking work in hot, cramped and frequently wet conditions, they had to do it all again in reverse to get home.
We thought we would find just one more Iron Age monument before calling it a day.
The Mên-an-Tol (also Men an Toll) is a small formation of standing stones, about three miles northwest of Madron. It is also known locally as the "Crick Stone".The Mên-an-Tol is thought to date to either the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age. The holed stone could originally have been a natural occurrence rather than deliberately sculpted.
Local folklore said that this was a place of healing or if a woman passed through the hole at full moon seven times backwards she would soon get pregnant.
Lanyon Quoit is a large Neolithic chambered Tomb. A massive capstone, supported by three uprights covers this impressive tomb. The chamber was originally a rectangular box, with a long low platform at one end. There are the remains of side chambers (cists) at the other end . Believed to be the burial chamber of a long mound, Lanyon Quoit has many unusual features, it is possible that this site may have had a role as a mausoleum or cenotaph.
On the way to Camelford for the night we stopped for a bowl of soup.
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