Summary

A chambered long barrow of Neolithic date beside a road in an area of open ground which is an extensive relict landscape of prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date.

Source: Historic England

Details

Principal Elements
The monument is located close to a road in an area of open ground that is an extensive relict landscape of prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date. This chambered long barrow comprises four granite upright stones, three of which support a large capstone which lies at the northern end of low 30m mound orientated north to south. At the southern end are the remains of three cists.

Description
The chambered Neolithic long barrow has a 5.8m long capstone of granite, that is possibly upside-down after being re-erected in 1824 following the collapse of the monument in 1815 in which part of it broke off. The three supporting orthostats are also of granite raising the capstone c.1.5m above the mound. Below the capstone there is a recumbent granite stone broken in two, and a low upright stone. All four orthostats have also been moved from their original position during the 1824 reconstruction. There is another stone that may form part of this structure or a cist, located south-east of this main structure, on the edge of the mound. The orthostats and capstone are located towards the northern end of a low north-south mound. This mound has three shallow pits on the main axis, one lying to the north of the orthostats. The two pits to the south have the remains of three granite cists located to the east of them towards the edge of the mound. The mound that these structures are built into is low, damaged and has ill-defined edges in some places, it is approximately 27m long and 12m wide. The pits and irregular edge to the mound are probably the result of antiquarian excavation and the removal of stone for the construction of field walls 10m to the south. Antiquarians mention charcoal and bone being found in the cists suggesting that despite disturbance to the site there will be significant buried deposits surviving related to the cists and the orthostats.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The chambered long barrow known as Lanyon Quoit, West Penwith, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: despite reconstruction, this complex site is considered to hold extensive archaeological potential relating to its use and the landscape in which it is located;
* Rarity: Lanyon Quoit is an unusual and rare example of a hybrid monument which combines both a chambered tomb and a long barrow;
* Potential: the tomb will contribute to our understanding of the social organisation and burial practices of the county’s Neolithic population;
* Group value: with other scheduled monuments nearby that collectively form a relict prehistoric landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, Prehistoric Cornwall: The Ceremonial Monuments, (1982)
Borlase, W, Parochial Memoranda, (1740)
Borlase, W, Antiquities of Cornwall, (1769)
Borlase, W C, Naenia Cornubiae, (1872)
Daniel, G E, Prehistoric Chamber Tombs of England and Wales, (1950)
Hencken, H O'N, The Archaeology of Cornwall and Scilly, (1932)
Lukis, W C, Borlase, W C, Prehistoric Stone Monuments of Cornwall, (1885)

Source: Historic England