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Summary

Courtyard House 4 at Chysauster, excavated by Hencken in 1931 and Croft Andrew in 1938.

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): 36008.09
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SW43NE 150

Monument Type(s):

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

Full description

This fairly well preserved although partly reconstructed courtyard house lies within the heart of Chysauster village (36008) and has witnessed several episodes of excavation (h2, h4, h5). It appears on Blight's 1861 plan of the village where it is shown and described as being in quite good condition (h1, b1). On this 1861 plan it is coded 'B' and Blight's detailed plan showed that it comprised a circular courtyard around which were arranged an oval, a cellular and a long room. The main entrance lay in the south-east where a door jamb remained in situ (b1). In 1987 the interior of the house was excavated and many sherds of Iron Age pottery were found (h2, b2, b5). When Watkins surveyed the village in 1928 at a scale of 1:1536 (h3, b4) it was coded as House II, though later work by Hencken in the 1930s changed this number to House 4 which is still maintained today (b5, b6). Whilst earlier excavations focussed on the interior of this large courtyard house (b2), Hencken set about excavation with a view to long term management and consolidation (b6). His work clarified the basic components of the site, a large courtyard around which were arranged a round room and three cellular cells. The remains of a possible well was found in the courtyard and the entranceway (orientated south-east) was finely paved (b6). This proved to be one of the best, as well as the largest, houses in the village, measuring at least 27m long and 19m wide (b6). Its main entrance fronted onto the village street and a substantial slope on its southern side showed that the house had been clearly built on an artificial platform. This house was apparently excavated again by Croft Andrew in 1939 (h5). Although there are no available details at present. This site was surveyed by the OS in 1960 (h6) after being Scheduled in 1958 (b7). A revisit by the OS in 1975 (h7) added no further comment whilst Weatherhill's notes taken in 1982 are a synopsis of documentary references and did not add any new detail. The site under Guardianship management is partly reconstructed so that walls stand up to 2.0m high and are consolidated (b9). Unlike some of the other houses in the village this example does not appear to have any extra-mural enclosures attached (b9).
(b9) - Nowakowski, JA, 1991, Pers Comm, ,

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Site history:
1: 1861. BLIGHT, JT
3: 1928. WATKINS, DH
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<1> Blight, JT, 1861, Account of an Ancient British Village in Cornwall, 38-46 (Article in Journal). SCO2861.

<2> CORNISH & HOLMAN, 1893, UNKNOWN TITLE, VOL IV, 106-107 (Unedited Source). SCO6534.

<3> Page, W (Editor), 1906, Victoria History of the County of Cornwall, VOL I, 370 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4068.

<4> Hencken, HO, 1928, An Excavation at Chysauster 1928, VOL 34, 145-164 (Article in Journal). SCO3487.

<5> Hencken, H O'N, 1932, The Archaeology of Cornwall and Scilly, 135, FIG 39D (Bibliographic reference). SCO3489.

<6> Hencken, HO'N, 1933, An Excavation by H.M. Office of Works at Chysauster, Cornwall, 1931 (Article in Journal). SCO7212.

<7> GORDON, MS, 1958, A M ENGLAND AND WALES, 21 (Unedited Source). SCO7674.

<8> Weatherhill, C, 1982, Courtyard Houses of West Penwith. A Survey, 50 (Bibliographic reference). SCO5029.

<10> Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 198-, Drawing Archive, Hanging (GRH), GRH 68/1/27/5 (Cartographic materials). SCO5088.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds

• FCO3798 - ROTARY QUERN (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO4024 - UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO748 - UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FCO2971 - VESSEL (Romano British - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Events: none recorded

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