Ancient History

Like all of West Cornwall Sancreed is rich in prehistoric and Iron Age remains. Standing stones, hill forts, stone circles and the rest are an accepted part of the landscape and attract thousands of visitors every year. The most impressive standing stone, at 3.5 m high, is the Blind Fiddler (seen in the image above) situated in a field next to a bend on the A30 above Catchall. Off the same road, just west of Drift, stand an impressive pair of standing stones traditionally known as ‘The Sisters’. On the other side of the parish, above Tregerest, you will find the Boswens Menhir or ‘tall stone’ which is located in the centre of a long burial barrow.

During the Iron Age, about 2 – 3 thousand years ago, the population of the parish seems to have been quite substantial as witness the remains of Caer Bran hillfort , one of the finest in Cornwall. Not far away can be found the Iron Age settlement of Carn Euny which is easily the most visited attraction in the parish. The site was excavated in the 1960’s and the archaeologists concluded that the community was inhabited for about one thousand years with several phases of expansion and rebuilding. There were a number of circular houses with conical thatched roofs and a central community area. For reasons unknown, Carn Euny was abandoned c. 400 AD.

Very popular with locals and visitors alike is Sancreed Beacon with its commanding views over the whole area. On the summit can be found the remains of a Bronze Age burial chamber while the remains of later round houses and their associated system of small fields can be detected on the the north-western flank of the hill.