Zennor Quoit

Zennor Quoit stands on the West Penwith moors about a mile east of Zennor village in Cornwall. A ruined megalithic burial chamber, it dates from between 2500 and 1500 BC. The site once had a massive roof slab weighing twelve and a half tonnes, but this collapsed between 1770 and 1865. Five upright stones still support part of the roof, which now rests partly on the ground. The chamber itself consists of seven upright stones and was originally covered by a cairn. Thirty metres to the east lies Sperris Quoit, though this is in a poorer state of repair. The quoit is one of eight remaining on the West Penwith moors and shows signs of organised Neolithic activity. Archaeologists have found flint tools, Neolithic pottery and cremated bones on the site. Local legend claims the stones possess mystical powers and that any removed will mysteriously return by night. In 1754 and 1769 the antiquary Dr William Borlase examined and drew the quoit, publishing his findings in 1769. In 1861 a farmer planned to turn the monument into a cattle-shed but villagers and the local vicar intervened. Visitors reach the quoit by a trail from a spot called Eagle’s Nest off the B3306 road. The chamber measures twelve and a half metres across and once had a small porch and an antechamber. Drill holes from the farmer’s failed attempt to convert it can still be seen in the stone. Every Midsummer’s Eve the Old Cornwall Society lights a bonfire behind the chamber. The surrounding moorland offers wide views across the Penwith peninsula.