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Summary

Possibly a relatively low status cliff castle with a 100m long stone wall following the upper ridge of the escarpment, providing defence on the eastern landward side.

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument CO713: Bosigran Castle 900yds (820m) W of Bosigran

Other References/Statuses

• Heritage at Risk (National): EH Heritage at Risk Register, 2012
• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SW43NW 6
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 30695
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SW43NW 59

Monument Type(s):

• CLIFF CASTLE (Bronze Age - 2500 BC to 801 BC)
• CLIFF CASTLE (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)

Full description

Bosigran Castle is recorded as 'The Castle' on the 1842 Tithe Map (b1) and was visited in 1883 (b3) and is shown on the OS map of 1908 (b5). The Victoria County History in 1906 noted that it had only recently been classed a cliff castle and was of doubtful accuracy, with only an insignificant piece of walling and no ditch (b4). Cotton in 1958 lists the site as a doubtful cliff castle (b6) but Guthrie in 1959 records that a section of walling linking the natural outcrops was revealed on the east side of the headland when vegetation was burnt off in 1958 (b7). The OS who surveyed the site at 1:2500 in 1961 record a prominent granite outcrop oriented NNW-SSE on a headland ideally situated for defence. On the north, west and south sides steep rocky cliffs descend to the sea and access is only from the east on the landward side where there is protection from the rocky slopes of the ridge. There is little doubt that an attempt has been made to isolate and fortify the promontory. The southern edge of the east side of the ridge is the only vulnerable section where a 100m long stone wall follows the upper ridge of the escarpment running from cliff to cliff. The northern half of this section has the addition of steep natural slopes. The landward side of the wall is crude, dry stone construction, up to 2.0m high, and retains on the west a bank of granite rubble 4.0m wide and up to 1.2m high. The southern part of the retaining wall appears to be a modern reconstruction. The only sign of an entrance is to the south where there is a small gap in the rubble, although the retaining wall is unbroken. A scatter of loose stones on the slopes below the wall indicates that parts of the wall have fallen in, and that it may have once been considerably higher. The wall, although now not strong, is ideally situated for defence and commands a fine view of the level ground on the landward side. There are no traces of any internal occupation, the only features of interest having been a logan stone and several fine rock basins. The OS conclude that the site is a promontory fort with defences indicating use as an occasional refuge rather than a permanent habitation site (h1). Bosigran Castle is marked on the OS map of 1963 (b7) and was visited by the MoW in 1969 (h2, b8) prior to Scheduling in 1970. Surveyed at 1:2500 by the CCRA in 1982 (h5, b13, b14, b16) and regarded as a cliff castle with an external drystone face to approx 1.6m high, with tumbled stone possibly over 2.0m high originally. Possibly a relatively low status cliff castle compared with Gurnard's Head (30838). A later wall abuts the drystone face and two others run up towards it. These are fossilised elements of a possibly Bronze Age field system and suggest an early date for the cliff castle, that is, Bronze Age or earlier (b16, b17).
(b17) - Herring, PC, 1990, Pers Comm, ,

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Site history:
1: 1961. GEARY, E / OS
2: 1969. MERCER, RJ / MOW
3: 1975. QUINNELL, NV / OS
4: 1980. SHEPPARD, PA / DOE
5: 1982. NDJ ET AL / CCRA, NT
6: 1985. SHEPPARD, PA / DOE
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<1> Tithe Award, 1840s, Zennor, FIELD NO 1, THE CASTLE (Bibliographic reference). SCO4940.

<2> UNKNOWN, 1---, VOL OF MISC EXTRACTS, DRAWINGS AND PRINTS, 44 (23) (Unedited Source). SCO5375.

<3> UNKNOWN, 1883, UNKNOWN TITLE, (NS) VOL I, 311 (Unedited Source). SCO6406.

<4> Page, W (Editor), 1906, Victoria History of the County of Cornwall, 460 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4068.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1900s, 2nd Edition 6 Inch Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4051.

<6> Cotton, MA, 1958, Cornish Cliff Castles, VOL II, 3, 120 (Article in Journal). SCO7670.

<7> Guthrie, A, 1959, Hellesvean Dark Age House, VOL II, 4, 178 (Article in Journal). SCO7727.

<8> Ordnance Survey, 1970s, 1:10,000 OS Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4045.

<9> Mercer, RJ (for DOE), 19--, Scheduled Monument Description (Bibliographic reference). SCO5178.

<10> Russell, V, 1971, West Penwith Survey, 39 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4314.

<11> Pool, PAS & Weatherhill, C, 1979, A Report to the National Trust: Iron Age Sites at Bosigran (Bibliographic reference). SCO5141.

<12> Sheppard, PA (for DOE), 19--, Scheduled Monument Description (Bibliographic reference). SCO5181.

<13> Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Field Drawing (GRE), GRE 2161 (Cartographic materials). SCO5089.

<14> Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 198-, Drawing Archive, Hanging (GRH), GRH 683, SW 4136 NE (Cartographic materials). SCO5088.

<15> Sheppard, PA (for DOE), 19--, Scheduled Monument Description (Bibliographic reference). SCO5181.

<16> Herring, PC, 1987, Bosigran, Zennor, 85-87, FIG 17 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3569.

<17> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 South West, 61 (Bibliographic reference). SCO25275.

<17> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 South West, 61 (Bibliographic reference). SCO26037.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

Related records: none recorded

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