MORSYLLACORNWALL COTTAGELAMORNA COVENear Penzance Holiday Let Cottage WEST CORNWALL COTTAGE(WEST PENWITH) |
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ContentsView from the front of the cottage Historical Notes of Lamorna
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The
History of West Penwith The areas of West Penwith and the Scillys are probably unique in their abundant antiquities ranging from pre-historic collections of stones, that date back to around 4,000 to 2,000 BC, to stones marked by the early Christians with crosses. There is probably only one other area in the world with a similar abundance of these and that is in Brittany, with whom West Penwith had a greater closeness, economically, culturally and liguistically than any where else. For example, Armor - a Bretton name for a place by the sea! A little imagination takes you to L'Armor..na, n'est pas? In
the Neolithic period (Stone Age) between 4,000 and
2,000 BC, people presumed to have originated in Asia
arrived in the areas of Cornwall and Brittany, having
migrated westwards in search of the place where the
sun they worshipped set. They were responsible for the
construction of countless megalithic monuments. Such
monuments are found in many coastal areas, including
Malta, Sardinia, Corsica and the Orkneys, but are
especially numerous in Cornwall and Brittany. The
term 'megalithic', Greek for 'big stone', refers to
various types of monuments formed out of large stones.
Today the reasons for building such huge structures
remain a mystery. It has proved impossible to reach
any truly definitive conclusion as to whether they
served a scientific, political or religious purpose.
What is generally agreed is that that these monuments,
scattered over the two area in vast numbers were
associated in some way with a death cult and worship
of a Mother Goddess. One
may wonder why there were so many of these markings in
this area and how they came to survive the years that
have since past? The answer to the first question probably lies in the proximity of West Penwyth to the Brittany Coast. The answer to the second question may be a reflection of both the relatively small population of the area and its remoteness from the rest of the land by road. Nevertheless when we look at the extent to which the land was disfigured by metal mining it seems even more surprising. It may be of interest to briefly examine the time scale of the evolution of West Penwyth. 5,000 BC. Northern Europe enjoyed a much milder climate to today. The lushness and abundance of the pastures encouraged the development of new farming techniques, domestic animals and cereal crops. The polishing of stone and pottery also developed. The more settled lifestyle of the new immigrants during the Neolithic or New Stone Age made considerable impact on the environment as land was cleared for agriculture. 3,000
BC. This time saw the flowering of a culture that
erected and made use of stone monuments. The result of
which were thousands of 'quoits', chambered 'barrows',
'holed' stones, stone circles and standing stones. 1,500
C. This period saw a major change of culture.
Megalithic construction was running down and field
systems and settlements were abandoned and substituted
by a culture revolving around hill forts. 400
BC. At this time Celtic iron technology arrived in
Western Britain. THE
CELTS The
Celts were not a racial or national entity but a
collection of tribes having their homeland in Central
Europe, an economy centred around the working of iron
and extensive trade connections with classical Greek
and Oriental inspired cultures.Their influence in SW
Britain was a cultural one and was carried along the
age old maritime routes to Gaul (France) and Iberia
(Spain and Portugal), parts of which had been settled
by Celtic Tribes. Iron
Age Society, beginning about 500 BC,
became class structured with at the top the
Druids - the educated class - then the warriors who
owned the land, cattle and precious metals. Next were
the mass of 'free' farmers and bottom of all the serfs
and slaves. 500/600 AD By this time the old religions came under pressure from the rising popularity of Christianity brought to the British Isles by elements of the Roman Settlement. Irish and Welsh armed settlers arrived in the South West accompanied by holy men and women, often ex-Druids, who spearheaded the conversion of local Chiefs. Many of the springs, wells and other sacred pagan locations were re-dedicated to Saints and early Celtic Christianity was rooted firmly in the rural traditions of paganism, but preaching the universal brotherhood of man. By about 500 AD the Celts seemed to get on the move again fleeing from the Angles and Saxons. They settled in Brittany, taking their language and Christianity to the area.
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