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Summary

Courtyard House 7 at Chysauster, excavated by Hencken in 1931.

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument CO37: Chysauster ancient village

Other References/Statuses

• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SW43NE 69
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 36008.03
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SW43NE 69

Monument Type(s):

• COURTYARD HOUSE (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
• COURTYARD HOUSE (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Full description

This courtyard house lies on the perceived south-east edge of the village of Chysauster (36008). It was surveyed by Blight in 1861 when it was shown to be in a fine state of preservation (h1, b1). Blight's survey showed it to comprise several rooms and a courtyard. It appears to have two entrances, one in the north which has its main orientation onto the village street, the second entrance or access was located in the south where it opened out onto two small associated terraced enclosures (b1). By the time of a 1:1536 survey it 1928 it was in less fine condition (h2, b2). During the 1930s it was excavated by Hencken for the Ministry of Works when it was coded House 7 (h3, b3). Hencken established fairly early in the excavation that the house had suffered post-occupational disturbance. This amounted in particular to severe internal soil disturbance which confused stratigraphy (b3). Despite this its essential features were ascertained. The site comprised a northern aligned entrance which was paved and through which a covered drain ran downslope into the courtyard. The original main entrance was found blocked in the eastern walls of the site between the remnant traces of two long rooms (b3). The main round room lay on the north-west side of the courtyard (b3). It had a flagged floor in which was set an oval stone basin (b3). The floor was shown to have been re-layed at least once and a drain was located at the rear of the structure (b3). A bench or alcove was also located here (b3). This room housed two stone hearths which were defined by upright slabs (b3). From this room Iron Age and Roman sherds were discovered. According to Hencken's excavation this was considered the oldest house within the whole settlement dating from at least the 1st century BC or possibly even the 2nd century BC. It was occupied up to the 4th century AD (b3). The condition of the structure has obviously changed since Blight's original survey (b1) and Hencken records that partial demolition may have been due to the site being used as a preaching place during the 19th century (b3). Hencken did not excavate the two adjacent enclosures, but these terraces were probably small gardens (b6). There were many artefacts recovered from this site which consists of pottery, worked stone, some lignite and flint (b3). The OS surveyed the site in 1960 and added no further detail in a revisit in 1975 (h4, h5). Weatherhill made field notes and observations in 1982 (h6, b5) which form a synopsis of Hencken's work. The house now lies under grass cover (b6) after consolidation for public access and display when the site came under Scheduling protection (b4).
(b6) - Nowakowski, JA, 1991, Pers Comm, ,

--------------------------------
Site history:
1: 1861. BLIGHT, JT
2: 1928. WATKINS, DH
4: 1960. QUINNELL, NV / OS
5: 1975. FLETCHER, MJ / OS
6: 1982. WEATHERHILL, C / CCRA
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<1> BLIGHT, JT, 1861, UNKNOWN TITLE, VOL 38, 46 (Unedited Source). SCO6136.

<2> Hencken, HO, 1928, An Excavation at Chysauster 1928, VOL 34, 154-164 (Article in Journal). SCO3487.

<3> Hencken, HO'N, 1933, An Excavation by H.M. Office of Works at Chysauster, Cornwall, 1931, 252-257 (Article in Journal). SCO7212.

<4> GORDON, MS, 1958, A M ENGLAND AND WALES, 21 (Unedited Source). SCO7674.

<5> Weatherhill, C, 1982, Courtyard Houses of West Penwith. A Survey, 51-52 (Bibliographic reference). SCO5029.

<7> Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 198-, Drawing Archive, Hanging (GRH), GRH 68/1/27/5 (Cartographic materials). SCO5088.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds

• FCO3814 - BASIN (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO3817 - BRACELET (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO3005 - CLINKER (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO3816 - DISC (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO3009 - HAMMERSTONE (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO3006 - JAR (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO3815 - POLISHER (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO3010 - SPINDLE WHORL (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO3008 - UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO3813 - VESSEL (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO3007 - WHETSTONE (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Events: none recorded

Related records

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