Situate=
d beside
the Penzance=
to Morvah road, on high ground midway between Morvah and Madron, this <=
span
class=3DGramE>intriguing stru=
cture
is the visible remains of a late Neolithic or early Bronze Age burial mound=
of
the type known generally as <=
span
class=3DSpellE>Penwith Chamber Tombs.
Originally covered by a mound of earth and stones some 90' long and=
40'
wide, this impressive construction would have made quite a feature in the
landscape. Thought originally to have held the cremated remains of a Bronze=
Age
chieftain, it now seems likely to have served more as a communal mausoleu=
m to
house the remains of many generations , maintained over a period of several
hundred years. The structure collapsed supposedly during a storm in 1815 and
was restored in 1824 but sadly not to its former specifications as some sto=
nes
had become damaged. Other quoits or dolmens can be found in the area in var=
ying
stages of preservation. Lanyon Quoit
however boasts the heaviest capstone, weighing in at just over 13 tons.
=