Name: Carn Euny Ancient Village
Rating: 5.0

Carn Euny Ancient Village

Sancreed, Penzance, Cornwall TR20 8RB, UK

1-99 Years

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Description

Among the best-preserved ancient villages in South West England, Carn Euny was occupied from the Iron Age until late Roman times. It includes the foundations of stone houses from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD, with walls up to a metre high in places. At the heart of the village is its most intriguing feature – a stone-walled underground passage known as a fogou. This mysterious type of Iron Age monument is found only in the far west of Cornwall.

The earliest houses on the site were Iron Age ‘round houses’, probably built of timber and turf sometime between 500 and 400 BC. These were replaced with stone houses probably between about 50 BC and AD 100.

Free Entry. If you are looking for Best place for day out with kids and families then this is the perfect destination offering fun, adventure, and unforgettable memories for everyone.

Features

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Host birthday parties: No

Features

Carn Euny is one of the best preserved ancient villages in south-west England. The village was inhabited from the Iron Age until about the end of the Roman occupation of Britain (about 400 BC – AD 400) and has an excellent example of an underground stone-walled passage, known as a ‘fogou’, a type of monument only found in the far west of Cornwall.
The earliest houses on the site were Iron Age ‘round houses’, probably built of timber and turf sometime between 500 and 400 BC. These were replaced with stone houses probably between about 50 BC and AD 100.
The last phase of settlement, between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD, saw several earlier buildings replaced with larger, stone ‘courtyard’ houses. The visible ruins above ground mark the remains of these later houses.
Old field boundaries nearby show that the inhabitants farmed some 40 acres of land around the village. They grew oats, barley and rye and kept animals such as sheep or goats and probably cattle. The villagers are likely to have been traders, perhaps dealing in local tin.
The village appears to have been abandoned in about AD 400, although we do not know why.
Carn Euny remained uninhabited for more than a thousand years. In the post-medieval period, the ruins were used as pigsties and garden plots. A small cottage was built here in about 1750, but by the mid-19th century this had fallen into disuse.
In the 1840s, miners prospecting for tin discovered a ‘fogou’, or underground passage, on the site. This was excavated in the 1860s by the Cornish antiquary WC Borlase (1848–99).
No excavation of the wider settlement took place until the 1960s. The archaeologists excavated the stone houses and fogou, and also found the circular drainage gullies and postholes of the early Iron Age turf and timber round houses, which had otherwise completely disappeared.

Facilities

Parking: There is a small car park located a short walk away (about 600m). Access to the car park is down narrow lanes unsuitable for large coaches.
Food & Drinks: There are various pubs and cafes located in the surrounding areas and Penzance is a 6-mile drive from the site.
Dogs: Dogs on leads are welcome.

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Price

Price: Paid

Price Details

Free Entry.

Pricing URL: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/carn-euny-ancient-village/opening-times/

Birthday Parties

Offer Birthday Parties: No

Open any reasonable time during daylight hours.

Address: Sancreed, Penzance, Cornwall TR20 8RB, UK

Post Code: TR20 8RB

Council: Cornwall

County: Cornwall

Road Access: 1 1⁄2 miles W of Sancreed along narrow but signed lanes.
Bus Access: Go Cornwall bus 8; Nearest bus stop is Lower Botrea in Grumbla Village, 0.6 miles/1.0 km from the site.
Train Access: Penzance Station (6.0miles / 9.6kms). Buses depart from the adjacent Bus Station.
Bicycle Access: Find this site on The National Cycle Network.
Parking: There is a small car park located a short walk away (about 600m). Access to the car park is down narrow lanes unsuitable for large coaches.