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Summary

A hillfort defended by a single rampart of stones set on edge linking natural outcrops, with a well defined entrance on the east.

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument CO31: Trencrom Castle

Other References/Statuses

• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SW53NW 18
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 31136
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SW53NW 25

Monument Type(s):

• TOR ENCLOSURE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2501 BC)
• HILLFORT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)

Full description

Trencrom Castle, marked as a 'fort' by the OS has been owned by the National Trust since 1946 (b9).

Also known as simply 'Crom'. This name has been interpreted as possibly related to the Irish word 'Crom' which relates to an old daeity (b12).

Noted by William Borlase and later antiquarians, Trencrom was the subject of the annual excursion of the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society in 1882, when a number of "pit dwellings" were observed. These have been re-interpreted as the sites of round houses.

Hencken described the site as a "contour fort defended by a single delapidated stone wall surrounding the comparatively level summit of the hill. Here fragments of Iron Age pottery have recently been picked up".

Henderson's plan shows a stone rampart linking outcrops of granite on the summit of the hill, with a less prominent outer rampart on the north-east slope. Twenty hut circles and platforms are shown within the enclosure. Four other pits are shown on the east side. Entrances are indicated on the north, south-west and east sides of the site. Henderson shows the main enclosure divided into two parts by outcrops of rock linked by a surviving short length of wall (b7).

The OS visited Trencrom in 1961 and noted that the rampart originally consisted of a double line of large rocks set on edge, with the space between filled with earth and small stones. Natural outcrops of rock are incorporated and form an integral part of the ramparts. There is a well defined entrance on the east and the inner corners are marked by upright stones. There are traces of what was probably a large blocking of this entrance on the west side (h1). Weatherhill recorded that these two entrances have inturned ramparts. The north entrance consists of a simple breach in the rampart. A slight "bump" in the gap may indicate that the rampart was once continuous. Both it and the track through appear to be comparitively modern (h1).

On the basis of comparisons with Carn Brea and Helman Tor, where stone-faced stone walls link natural tors and outcrops to form a continuous rampart, Herring has suggested that Trencrom may have originated as a Neolithic tor enclosure. (PCH pers comm)

--------------------------------
Site history:
1: 1961. PITCHER, GH / OS
2: 1976. WEATHERHILL, C / PTE
3: 1977. WEATHERHILL, C / PTE
4: 1979. SHEPPARD, PA / DOE
5: 1983. SHEPPARD, PA / DOE
6: 1999. HERRING P / CAU
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MILES, H, 1978, HILLFORT STUDY GROUP CORNWALL (Unedited Source). SCO8443.

UNKNOWN, 1---, VOL OF MISC EXTRACTS, DRAWINGS AND PRINTS, 45 (Unedited Source). SCO5375.

Borlase, W, 1740, Parochial Memoranda (Unpublished document). SCO2884.

UNKNOWN, 18--, UNKNOWN TITLE, VOL I, 342 (Unedited Source). SCO5711.

Edmonds, R, 1857, The Celtic and other Antiquities of the Land's End district of Cornwall, 364 (Article in Journal). SCO5096.

UNKNOWN, 1882, UNKNOWN TITLE, (NS) VOL I, 198 (Unedited Source). SCO6397.

Page, W (Editor), 1906, Victoria History of the County of Cornwall, VOL I, 461 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4068.

Henderson, C, 1914, Notebooks of Parochial Antiquities, VOL II, 167-181 (Unpublished document). SCO3503.

Hencken, H O'N, 1932, The Archaeology of Cornwall and Scilly, 130, 301 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3489.

THOMAS, AC, 1957, NATIONAL TRUST PAMPHLET (Unedited Source). SCO7650.

Russell, V, 1971, West Penwith Survey, 31, 50 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4314.

Weatherhill, C, 1981, Belerion: Ancient Sites of Land's End, 57-58 (Bibliographic reference). SCO5027.

Cargreeg, F., 1966, Francis Cargeeg talking with Jimmy James (Sound recording). SCO27662.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• ECO4274 - Trencrom Hill: HLS Assessment

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