Chûn Quoit is one of the best preserved of all Neolithic quoits (also called dolmens or cromlechs) in western Cornwall, United Kingdom. Chûn Quoit is located in open moorland near Pendeen and Morvah. Standing on a

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

, near the much later constructed

Chûn Castle Chûn Castle is a large Iron Age hillfort ( ringfort) near Penzance in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The fort was built about 2,500 years ago, and fell into disuse until the early centuries AD when it was possibly re-occupied to protect t ...

hill fort, it overlooks heather

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...

and the open sea.

Description

Like the other quoits, the quoit was probably covered by a

round barrow A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...

(35 ft in diameter), of which much evidence abounds. It was a closed chamber and its mushroom-domed capstone measures 3.3 m (11 ft) by 3 m (10 ft), with a maximum thickness of 0.8 m (2 ft 7 in). There is a cup mark on top of the capstone. It is supported about 2 m (7 ft) from the ground by four substantial slabs. There is evidence of an entrance passage to the south-east within the mound area. The site was examined in 1871 but no significant finds were made. In the vicinity of Chûn Quoit there are many other megalithic and

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

sites, such as

Lanyon Quoit Lanyon Quoit is a dolmen in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, 2 miles southeast of Morvah. It collapsed in a storm in 1815 and was re-erected nine years later, and as a result the dolmen is now very different from its original appearance. Locat ...

Mulfra Quoit Mulfra Quoit () is a Neolithic dolmen in the county of Cornwall in England. It stands on Mulfra Hill to the north of the hamlet of Mulfra. Location The Quoit is located west of Penzance between Porthmeor and New Mill on the top of Mulfra Hil ...

, Mên-an-Tol and Mên Scryfa. The rocky outline of

Carn Kenidjack Carn Kenidjack () is a hill in Tregeseal, Cornwall, England, UK. It is covered in megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Ther ...

marks the position of

midwinter Midwinter is the middle of the winter. The term is attested in the early Germanic calendars. Attestations Midwinter is attested in the early Germanic calendars, where it appears to have been a specific day or a number of days during the winter ha ...

sunset away to the south-west. This is the only

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

in West Penwith to retain its capstone 'in situ' – others have been re-settled. It is believed to have been built around 2400 BC, two millennia before the neighbouring

Folklore

''The Giants of Towednack'' records a local oral tradition that the Castle on Morvah Downs was the abode of the giant ''Old Denbras'' the Hurler who is killed in a wrassling match with a burly young man named Tom. He inherits Chûn Castle and the lands about on the condition that he buries the giant at his favourite seat on the hill facing out to sea;

"In the castle-court they found the club and sling with which Denbras slew the game he wanted: these Tom placed on the giant's knees, and Joan laid green oak-branches and flowers around him; then they worked with a will, and before sunrise they collected so much stones as raised the barrow gradually sloping, even with the tops of the flat uprights which enclosed the giant. Then, by the help of poles, or such contrivances as were only known to the old folks, they placed the quoit or capstone over the head of Denbras, which hid him for ever from the light of day; and, before the sun sunk below the hill-tops, they had raised as noble a barrow over the giant as any to be found on Towednack hills; yet they were not without adding, time after time, to the carp of the giant's resting-place.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chun Quoit Dolmens in Cornwall Penwith Megalithic monuments in England Stone Age sites in Cornwall