Spectacular Cornish Scenery, Cornwall's coasts & beaches; Celtic Culture, Language and History

Cornwall's Celtic Culture

Lanyon Quoit

A Land Apart?

Several different cultures and peoples make Cornwall what it is today. There are traces of the Neolithic Beaker People and the Megalith builders of 2000 B.C, with dolmen, burial chambers, and mênhirs (standing stones) found especially on the Isles Of Scilly, Penwith in West Cornwall and on Bodmin Moor in East Cornwall. The human remains in these tombs were usually found kneeling or sitting with their knees up to their chins. Later Bronze Age cultures began the custom of single burial and cremation that continues today. Very many of these ancient relics have been destroyed over time and by mining activity, but a brief visit to these sites should fulfil all but the most ardent of researchers. The main sites being Boscawen-ûn (Nine Maidens); Boleigh (Merry Maidens and The Pipers); Carn Gluze (Ballowall Barrow); Pendeen Vau; The Blind Fiddler at Sancreed; Chûn Quoit; Mulfra; and Mên-an-Tol (Holed Stone). Other notable sites are The Hurlers (on Bodmin Moor); Trethevy Quoit (near Liskeard); Carn Euny near Sancreed; Tremenheer (St. Keverne) and the Stripple Stones and Trippet Stones of St. Breward. Around about 550 B.C. the Celts invaded Britain. They brought with them the knowledge of Iron Working - the Iron Age had begun here. Compared to the scattered Bronze Age residents, the Celts had a highly organised structure, they were civilised and well trained in battle. They set about fortifying their hilltop settlements with ditches and ringed earth ramparts. Some of these Iron Age hill forts can still be seen at Castle-an-Dinas (near St. Columb); Trencrom (Hayle); Castle Canyke (Bodmin); Chûn Castle (Pendeen) and Carn Brea overlooking present-day Redruth. The most impressive however lies near Dorchester in Dorset and is the huge 20 acre site of Maiden Castle - home of the Durotriges Celts until 43AD.

Gurnards Head - cliff castle

Cliff castles were also constructed on the coast with the some of the most accessible at Rumps Point (Polzeath); Trevelgue (Newquay); Kelsey Head (Holywell Bay); Gurnard's Head (Zennor); Carrick Lûz (Coverack); Kenidjack Castle (Cape Cornwall); Treryn Dinas (Porthcurno); Maen Castle (Land's End) and Dodman Point (St. Austell). More photographs..>

In fact, it is thought that the classic cliff castle at Rumps Point is so similar to those in Armorica, Brittany that it may have been built by refugees from the great sea battle of Morbihan Bay between the Romans and the Veneti in 56 BC. The Celts also introduced the idea of special areas dedicated to the burial of their dead - in fact these were Iron Age cemeteries. Left largely untouched by the Romans until their departure in c. 410 A.D., Cornwall retained the majority of this Celtic influence for almost the next 1000 years. When the Jutes; Angles and Saxons invaded from across the North Sea in about 450 A.D. and established 7 states: Kent (Jutes); Northumbria; Mercia; East Anglia (Angles); Wessex; Sussex and Essex (Saxons), the Celts (Ancient Britons) were squeezed into the extremities of the island of Britain. This relocation of the Celts only strengthened their language and culture in these lands. The Dumnonii and Cerniw became Devon and Cornwall, the 'strangers' (Saxon - wealhas) formed Wales, with other tribes forming Scotland and Armorica (present-day Brittany). Cornwall was, in fact, the last part of Britain to surrender to the Saxons in 838 AD.

The Arms of Cornwall

The Arms of Cornwall depict a black shield containing 15 gold balls - known as besants. The history of the besants is that they were gold coins found in Byzantium. The legend being, that an Earl of Cornwall fighting in the Crusades in the 12th Century, was captured by the Saracens. The people of Cornwall ('One And All') had to raise the sum of 15 besants to ensure his release.

Society

A Stannary or 'Tinner's' Parliament was set up in the 11th Century to govern and legislate for the people of Cornwall. It was suspended in 1496 leading to the Cornish Rebellion of 1497 and abandoned in 1752. However its powers were never rescinded by the English Government at Westminster. Recently, a new apolitical, broader based movement, 'Cornish Solidarity' has been formed to fight for 'Cornish Rights'. The Government at Whitehall seeing the need for investment in the Duchy to replace the flagging mining and fishing industries, applied for and received 'Objective One Status' in late 1999. 'The Cornish National Minority Report' was written by Cornish academic Bernard Deacon, with research assistance by Julian German. It sets out the case for the Cornish to be recognised as a cultural group by describing the ways in which the Cornish are distinctive from the other British peoples and has been sent to experts on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Please click on the Cornish Stannary Parliament for more information.

The Timeline of Arthurian Britain	The World of the Celts
Who were the Celts?	The Cornish Language
TintagelWeb	The 'Ancient Sites Directory'
Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro	UK Villages.co.uk