Lanyon Quoit
{{Short description|Dolmen in Cornwall, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Lanyon Quoit
| native_name =
| alternate_name =
| image = Lanyonquoit3.jpg
| alt =
| caption = The dolmen in 2006
| map_type = England
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location in England, United Kingdom
| map_size =
| location = Madron, England, United Kingdom
| region =
| coordinates = {{coord|50.14750|-5.599167|display=inline,title}}
| type = Dolmen
| part_of =
| length = 5.5 meters
| width =
| area =
| height = 1.5 meters
| builder =
| material = Stone
| built = {{circa|3500 BC}}
| abandoned =
| epochs = Neolithic
| cultures =
| dependency_of =
| occupants =
| event =
| excavations =
| archaeologists =
| condition = Destroyed: 19 October 1815
Rebuilt: 1824
| ownership = National Trust
| public_access =
| website =
| notes =
| designation1 = Scheduled monument
| designation1_offname = Chambered long barrow known as Lanyon Quoit
| designation1_date = 10 August 1923
| designation1_number = {{listed building England|1006745}}
}}
Lanyon Quoit is a dolmen in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, 2 miles southeast of Morvah. It collapsed in a storm in 1815 and was re-erected nine years later, and as a result the dolmen is now very different from its original appearance.
Location
Lanyon Quoit is located northwest of Penzance on the road between Madron and Morvah. It stands 50 metres to the east of the road.
700 metres to the west lie the remains of another dolmen known as West Lanyon Quoit.[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=424283 WEST LANYON QUOIT], Pastscape, retrieved 8 November 2013
Description
Lanyon Quoit currently has three support stones which stand to a height of 1.5 metres.Timothy Darvill, Paul Stamper, Jane Timby, (2002), England: An Oxford Archaeological Guide to Sites from Earliest Times to AD 1600, page 441. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0192841017}} These bear a capstone which is 5.5 metres long,[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=424288 LANYON QUOIT], Pastscape, retrieved 8 November 2013 and which weighs more than 12 tonnes.Tom Quinn, (2007), The archaeology of Britain: from prehistory to the industrial age, page 15. New Holland. {{ISBN|1845372689}}
In the eighteenth century, the quoit had four supporting stones and the structure was tall enough for a person on horseback to ride under. On 19 October 1815, Lanyon Quoit fell down in a storm.{{cite book|last=Hitchins|first=Fortescue|author-link=Fortescue Hitchins|title=Cornwall From The Earliest Records And Traditions, To The Present Time|year=1824|publisher=William Penaluna|location=Helston|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YUYQAAAAYAAJ|editor=Samuel Drew|editor-link=Samuel Drew|accessdate=5 October 2011}} Nine years later, enough money was raised by local inhabitants to re-erect the structure, under the guidance of Captain Giddy of the Royal Navy. One of the original stones was considered too badly damaged to put back in place, thus there are only three uprights today and the structure does not stand so high as it once did. One of the uprights was turned at right-angles when the quoit was re-erected, but that is the only part of it which had its orientation changed. The cap stone is still aligned much as it was before the monument fell.John Barnatt, Prehistoric Cornwall, The Ceremonial Monuments, 1982, p121-4
The quoit lies at the north end of a long barrow 26 metres long and 12 metres wide.Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall; 2nd ed., revised by E. Radcliffe. Penguin; p. 121 The barrow, which is covered by grass and bracken, is damaged and its outline is difficult to see. At the south end of the barrow are some more large stones that may be the remains of one or more cists.
Investigations
File:Lanyon Quoit March 2009.jpg
In 1769, William Borlase described the megalithic site for the first time in a publication, illustrated with etchings in which the Lanyon Quoit's design and floor plan has a different look from today, given changes made following its 1815 collapse.William Borlase: Antiquities Historical and Monumental of the County of Cornwall, Bowyer and Nichols, London 1769 Lanyon Quoit collapsed in a storm in 1815 and was re-erected in 1824.
An etching from 1857 by R. T. Pentreath shows the megaliths in their present arrangement.Richard Edmonds, (1862), The Land's End District and its Antiquities, Natural History, Natural Phenomena and Scenery, Smith A similar drawing appears in the 1864 book A Week at the Land's End by John Thomas Blight.John Thomas Blight, (1861), A Week at the Land's End, Longman
In 1872, William Borlase, a descendant of the earlier Borlase, conducted further investigations and excavations were carried out.William Copeland Borlase, (1872), Naenia Cornubiae, Longmans He reproduced the etchings of his ancestor and found them much more valuable than any other contemporary sketch since the monument had been subjected to such considerable change.
In 1952, the then owner Edward Bolitho from Tregwainton donated the plot of land with the monument to the National Trust.
References
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category-inline|Lanyon Quoit}}
Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 4th millennium BC
Category:National Trust properties in Cornwall
Category:Tourist attractions in Cornwall
Category:Megalithic monuments in England
Category:Prehistoric sites in Cornwall