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Summary

Chun Quoit comprises an imposing megalithic chamber set within a low kerbed mound or barrow.

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument CO1088: Chun Downs prehistoric landscape complex, incorporating Chun Cromlech, Chun Castle, and barrow 200yds (180m) SW of Chun Farm

Other References/Statuses

• Heritage at Risk (National): HE, South West
• National Mapping Programme (Morph No.): 320.2.1
• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SW43SW 29
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 30518
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SW43SW 123

Monument Type(s):

• CHAMBERED TOMB (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2501 BC)
• CUP MARKED STONE (Bronze Age - 2500 BC to 801 BC)

Full description

Chun Quoit is situated in moorland on a west facing hillslope approximately 250m west of Chun Castle (30514). It comprises an imposing megalithic chamber set within a low kerbed mound or barrow. Two upright stones form the east and west sides of the chamber and, with the stone on the north side, support the capstone. A fourth stone on the south side is not in contact with the capstone (b4).

In 1871 WC Borlase excavated the barrow, which he describes as being 9.7m in diameter, in places reaching the top of the side stones of the chamber, and surrounded by a kerb of upright stones. Henderson records two stones within the mound on the south side which he interpreted as the remains of a cist. The OS surveyed the site at 1:2500 in 1961 and recorded a mound of irregular shape averaging 15m in diameter and 0.6m high. A stone 1.0m long and 0.7m high on the south side of the barrow is that referred to by Henderson as being part of a cist, and though this could not be confirmed, the stone's north-south orientation indicates that it is not part of the retaining kerb. Only two stones remain of the retaining kerb, standing erect on the north edge of the mound. The site is shown on OS maps of 1908 and 1963 and is listed as extant by Russell in 1971 (b13).

The tomb is illustrated by Buckler in 1821 and by Dymond in 1877 who shows the chamber to be oriented differently to that shown by Borlase. It is described by Henderson and by Hencken. The OS in 1961 note that Dymond's plan and orientation of the chamber are correct (as opposed to Borlase's), and that Hencken's measurements of the chamber are accurate. The site was revisited by the OS in 1975 when no change is recorded from the survey of 1961 (h2).

The monument is Scheduled, and the surrounding mound is included (b11). Sheppard in 1983 noted the number "51" in faded paint on top of an outer stone on the south of the chamber (h6, b18). The tomb was plotted as part of the NMP.

A line of cup marks are recorded on the surface of the capstone (b19).

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Site history:
h1: 1961. QUINNELL, NV /OS
h2: 1975. FLETCHER, MJ / OS
h3: 1979. SHEPPARD, PA / DOE
h4: 1981. SHEPPARD, PA / DOE
h5: 1982. SHEPPARD, PA / DOE
h6: 1983. SHEPPARD, PA / DOE
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Borlase, W, 1769, Antiquities Historical and Monumental of the County of Cornwall, 230, PL 287 (Bibliographic reference). SCO2878.

OSP, 1961, AO/61/35/8 (Photographic Record). SCO13757.

BUCKLER, A, 1821, ILLUSTRATION, F179 (Unedited Source). SCO5827.

Blight, JT, 1870, The Cromlechs of Cornwall, 102-108 (Unpublished document). SCO2870.

Borlase, WC, 1872, Naenia Cornubiae, 55-59, 269 (Bibliographic reference). SCO2892.

DYMOND, CW, 1877, UNKNOWN TITLE, VOL 33, 178 (Unedited Source). SCO6348.

Lukis, WC & Borlase, WC, 1885, Prehistoric Stone Monuments: Cornwall, 9, 24 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3881.

Page, W (Editor), 1906, Victoria History of the County of Cornwall, 364-365, PL 366 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4068.

Ordnance Survey, 1900s, 2nd Edition 6 Inch Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4051.

Henderson, C, 1914, Notebooks of Parochial Antiquities, 118, PLAN 116 (Unpublished document). SCO3503.

Hencken, H O'N, 1932, The Archaeology of Cornwall and Scilly, 48, 125, 304, 319 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3489.

MOW, 19--, OW 819 (Unedited Source). SCO6723.

Ordnance Survey, 1970s, 1:10,000 OS Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4045.

Russell, V, 1971, West Penwith Survey, 21 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4314.

Sheppard, PA (for DOE), 19--, Scheduled Monument Description (Bibliographic reference). SCO5181.

Sheppard, PA (for DOE), 19--, Scheduled Monument Description (Bibliographic reference). SCO5181.

Barnatt, J, 1982, Prehistoric Cornwall: The Ceremonial Monuments, 124-126, 246 (Bibliographic reference). SCO2777.

Sheppard, PA (for DOE), 19--, Scheduled Monument Description (Bibliographic reference). SCO5181.

Sheppard, PA (for DOE), 19--, Scheduled Monument Description (Bibliographic reference). SCO5181.

Pers. Comm., AM Jones, 18/07/2012 (Personal communication). SCO25106.

Gossip, J., 1999, Chun Downs, Cornwall: Archaeological and Historical Assessment (Cornwall Event Report). SCO936.

Lefort Geophysics, 2015, Chun Downs, near Pendeen, Cornwall (Report). SCO27139.

Jackson, M. & Jackson, A., 2006, Ancient Stones of Kernow (Booklet). SCO27463.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• ECO253 - Chun Downs (CWT)
• ECO4309 - Chun Downs, near Pendeen, Cornwall (Ref: 12-0001.01)
• ECO6131 - Ancient Penwith Site Assessment Form
• ECO6165 - Ancient Penwith: an archaeological assessment of sites in West Penwith for the PLP (Ref: 2016R069)

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Associated Images

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