Ertach Kernow - St Buryan a community with ancient antiquities
St Buryan a small settlement on the Land’s End peninsula and its surrounding area has a rich history stretching back to prehistoric time. This is an area of Cornwall beyond the most westerly large town of Penzance where there are just a few villages and scattered earlier farming and mining hamlets and villages.
Lying inland from the sea about one and a half miles St Buryan is not a fishing community like many settlements on the coast like Mousehole or Porthwarra. It is likely just seen in passing by those travelling through on their way to Porthcurno beach, Porthcuro Telegraph Museum or the Minack Theatre. This small village which grew up around the church is now part of the larger civil parish St Buryan, Lamorna and Paul formed by the merging of St Buryan and Paul in 2020. The population of St Buryan is around 1,500 having been much higher during the mid-nineteenth century before falling back like many Cornish towns but now again on the rise. This whole area is covered with prehistoric features and finds, far too many to include here. But the Land’s End peninsula coastline is an area almost totally encompassing the centre, including St Buryan, as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. St Buryan itself is virtually entirely a conservation zone.
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First mentioned as Sancta Beriana around 939 a monastery was founded by King Æthelstan of Wessex and continued until the Reformation being dissolved in 1545. The antiquary John Leland in his 16th century library tour of Cornwall wrote ‘St. Buriana, an holy woman of Ireland, sumtyme dwellid in this place, and there made an oratory. King Ethelstan, founder of St. Burian’s College, and giver of the privileges and sanctuarie to it. King Ethelstan goyng hens, as it is said, on to Sylley, and returning, made, ex voto, a college where the oratorie was.’ A little later the cartographer John Norden also mentions St Buryan. At the time of Domesday in 1086 it was known as Eglosberrie and held by the Canons of St Buryan both before and after the Norman Conquest. At that time Eglosberrie lay in the hundred known as Connerton containing twelve families a dozen cattle and same number of sheep. With around 140 acres of land it was worth 10 shillings per year to the Canons of St Buryan as the tenants in chief.
The church site began with the small 6th century oratory of St Buriana, of which nothing now remains. Later in the tenth century a larger church was constructed on the instructions of Æthelstan and a charter issued. In short this stated, translated from Latin, ‘Athelstan, King of the English etc., have on the petition of my nobles granted a certain parcel of land tothe Church of St Buryan, on the condition, be it understood, 'that the aforesaid land be exempt from all secular assessment, except from the Tendering of the Prayers which the clergy have promised se, that is 100 masses, 100 psalters and daily Prayers. I Æthelstan, King of all Britain, have ratified this document with the seal of the holy Cross.’ For a warlike king, like many warriors of the time, Æthelstan was a very devout Christian. This church was rebuilt in the 13th century with a much larger building, consecrated in 1238, leaving just some filled in arch pillars, all that remains to this day of Æthelstan’s original church. Once again the church was rebuilt in the 15th century after falling into decay.
The 15th century rebuild began with the tower and only when complete was the 13th century church largely demolished and replaced. The church was far longer than many other churches due to needs relating to the accommodation of the Dean and College. Restoration work took place a number of times in 1814, 1825 between 1851 and 1857 and again in 1874 which saw much of the original internal timber portions of the church removed. However, it is of sufficient architectural and historic interest to be a Grade I listed building.
Perhaps one of the most historic features is the small 10th century cross that lies adjacent to the church. This is just the head with the shaft long lost and the cross resting on a series of stone steps built around the 16th century with an additional 19th century step. This small cross is itself Grade I listed and typical of 10th century Celtic Cornish crosses. It’s thought that similar crosses at Lanherne indicate how the St Buryan cross shaft would have looked and that it would have been about three metres high. Further ancient monuments within the village include a further medieval cross some 60 yards from the church and it has been mooted that the churchyard once extended with burials beyond the existing graveyard. This has been discounted by others with suggestions it is a market cross.
The area around St Buryan is blessed with two of the finest stone circles in Cornwall. One and a half miles to the southeast lies the Merry Maidens and one mile to the north Boscawen-Un, both from the late Neolithic period. The former consists of a near perfect round circle of nineteen granite standing stones all very regularly placed. Legend has it that this, like many other stone circles such as the Hurlers at Minions on Bodmin Moor, were folk turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath and in this case nineteen maidens. This circle was mentioned by the Cornish antiquary Dr William Borlase, rector of Ludgvan in 1769 and by his great great grandson William Copeland Borlase who provided a map of the area in his book Nænia Cornubiæ published in 1872.
Moving on to Boscawen-Un, which aside from entries in the Borlase books the circle was also visited and recorded by the celebrated Cornish archaeological artist John Thomas Blight. He along with members of the Cambrian Archaeological Association toured this area of Cornwall in 1862. Blight describes the circle as being ‘formed by nineteen stones, averaging little more than three feet in height, and placed at irregular distances, some being thirteen feet apart, others no more than seven or eight. Within the area, but not in the centre, is a stone nine feet long, in an inclining position. It inclines W.S.W. 49° from the horizon, but whether originally upright is uncertain’. Now days there are groups devoting their time to ensure that important Cornish heritage is maintained such as CASPN the Cornish Ancient Sites Protection Network. Ensuring preservation was not always the case prior to and including the 19th century when many monuments were destroyed to use for building material or just ploughed over. Blight says ‘at the time of our visit the Boscawen-un circle was divided by a hedge, and many of the stones were overgrown by brambles and furze. Recently, however, these disfigurements and obstructions have been cleared away. The Circle has been enclosed within a strong fence and is now secure from accidental or wilful mutilation. For this care taken of a valuable monument of a remote age, the county owes a debt of gratitude to Miss Elizabeth Carne, of Penzance, on whose property the Circle stands, and who has thus set an excellent example to Cornish landholders to preserve those antiquities for which the county is so justly celebrated.’ Boscawen-Un also has the distinction of being the site of the first Gorsedh Kernow bardic celebration on 21th September 1928.
There are many barrows and rounds within this area, some sadly have vanished since the time of William Borlase and Blight mentions some in his writings. An example is an equally large second stone circle mentioned by Dr Borlase in 1769 and recorded by W C Borlase in 1872 as to having just nine stones remaining, these too had vanished by the end of the nineteenth century. No doubt many other archaeological monuments have disappeared through neglect and lack of interest in preservation since then proving a sad loss to our Cornish tangible heritage. Blight also mentions work undertaken nearby in 1864 by the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society on a barrow where various items were found and recorded and drawn by him. Today we must be thankful to these early antiquarians who provided written records of monumental and site remains, so we can see what has been lost and how remaining sites have altered over time.
Some 230 metres southwest of the Merry Maidens is the Tregiffian Burial Chamber a rare late Neolithic or perhaps early Bronze Age entrance grave, with a chambered tomb. Located on the side of the B3315 the road goes over part of the tomb showing lack of interest in preserving such sites intact in previous decades. This tomb has a passage entry lined with stone slabs leading to a central chamber and was first excavated by W C Borlase in 1871 when cremated bone remains were discovered in pits. Further extensive excavations were carried out in 1968 and 1972 which discovered urns with cremated contents. Carbon dating showed dating to be around 1900 BCE and with two types of burial within the tomb it helps prove the longevity of use for this ancient structure within those early communities. Travelling along the road this site just looks like a pile of rocks so it’s worth parking at the Merry Maidens and taking a walk to have a proper look. The site is now managed by the Cornwall Heritage Trust.
For those interested in church buildings or ancient Cornish monuments a visit to the St Buryan district should be on a bucket list of places to visit throughout Cornwall. With the nearby Porthcurno Telegraph Museum and Minack Theatre this area is a feast of cultural heritage interest.
