<< Our Photo Pages >> Boleigh - Souterrain (Fogou, Earth House) in England in Cornwall

Submitted by enkidu41 on Tuesday, 16 November 2004  Page Views: 20907

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Boleigh
Country: England County: Cornwall Type: Souterrain (Fogou, Earth House)
Nearest Town: Penzance  Nearest Village: Lamorna
Map Ref: SW43712521  Landranger Map Number: 203
Latitude: 50.071638N  Longitude: 5.583092W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

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I have visited· I would like to visit

SolarMegalith Macha micske irodori-00 would like to visit

Catrinm visited on 23rd Sep 2018 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4 rang ahead.. beautiful autumn afternoon and peaceful inside fougou. open at both ends

markj99 visited on 23rd Mar 2013 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4 Rosemerryn house owners were kind enough to allow access to Boleigh Fogou. It was my first visit to a subterranean site but I enjoyed it immensely.

brianlavelle visited on 27th Mar 2010 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4

Bladup ocifant have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.67 Ambience: 4.67 Access: 4

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by ocifant : The entrance to the fogou. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Boleigh Fogou sits within the private grounds of Rosemerryn House. The main passage is some 36 feet long, and 6.5 feet high.

A creep passage, nearly 13 feet long extends off from close to the modern day entrance. The original external entrance via the creep is now blocked. The internal entrance to the creep is very low and tight for an adult. A torch is essential when visiting. The end of the main passage is also blocked due to the collapse of the roof at that end.

Note: The Rosemerryn Wood web site gives details of the guest cottage, should you wish to stay and visit.
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Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Bladup : A very strange light effect in Boleigh fogou, I promise the camera was totally still all the way though the shot, As can be seen by the rocks being pretty much in focus in the background, We had a very strange feeling at the time the photo was taken, and was a little taken aback when we saw this photo later. (4 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by brianlavelle : The entrance to Boleigh fogou, taken 27 March 2010. (5 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Bladup : Inside Boleigh fogou. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by cazzyjane : Boleigh Fogou, looking amazing in the spring sun. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Postman : Looking along the Fogou to the broken back end. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Postman : The entrance to the creep passage.

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Bladup : Looking out of Boleigh fogou.

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Bladup : Boleigh Fogou.

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by enkidu41 : The opening to the creep passage just inside the entrance to the main passage.

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by ocifant : Looking back out of the main passage. The creep entrance can be seen on the right.

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by ocifant : Looking into the fogou. The creep entrance can just be seen on the left.

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Horatio : Back of the creep passage

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Horatio : Looking back along the creep to the main chamber, the fallen roof stone at the bottom of the photo

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Horatio : Front widest and deepest entrance

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Horatio : The other (rear) entrance in to the Fogou

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Horatio : Looking back up towards what would possible the the front entrance? I stopped and rang at the beginning of the house drive as this is basically in someone's garden to seek permission to visit, as it was the gentleman was more than willing and showed where me where to go and as it turns out, he'd moved from close from my 'neck of the woods' about 4 years ago (Leicestershire), so we reminisced abou...

Boleigh Holed Stone
Boleigh Holed Stone submitted by Bladup : Boleigh Holed Stone

Boleigh Holed Stone
Boleigh Holed Stone submitted by Bladup : Boleigh Holed Stone (5 comments)

Boleigh Holed Stone
Boleigh Holed Stone submitted by Bladup

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Bladup : Boleigh Fogou (Entrance)

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Bladup : Boleigh Fogou (Back)

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Postman : Boleigh Fogou. Saw two fairies here, one was grey and the other was black and white, Eric reckoned they were a cat and dog but what does he know?

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Postman : Looking into the creep passage

Boleigh
Boleigh submitted by Postman : The end of the creep pasage

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"Boleigh" | Login/Create an Account | 8 News and Comments
  
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Re: Boleigh by Anonymous on Monday, 18 October 2010
Time Team were here in the 90s and spent half their programme trying to debunk the late Hamish Miller's dowsing skills, then totally ignored the fogou's most important feature - the carving close to the entrance! Ian McNeil Cooke, the man who's done by far the most amount of fogou studying, was filmed - and ended up on the cutting room floor - while the programme concentrated on people it brought in from somewhere who wouldn't know a fogou if it collapsed on them!

Craig Weatherhill
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Re: Boleigh by brianlavelle on Monday, 29 March 2010
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March 2010, and a friend and I have spent a couple of days at Rosemerryn House, enjoying a lot of time in and around the fogou here.

It's an impressive site and feels alive. Going into the fogou is a little daunting, particularly with the absolute darkness at the far end, the slippery entrance after Spring rain, and the fact that, at least at this time of year, the floor was very muddy, with a huge puddle in the middle section of the main passage. The water there was about ankle depth, so wellingtons are essential if you're going all the way.

The current owner, Rob, told of us at least one person who had come to sleep overnight in the creep passage - quite an ordeal when you see the width of that small chamber and the size of the spiders!

Incidentally, the B&B run by the current owners is very comfortable and spacious and it's pretty unique to have a site like this to yourself for an entire weekend. No one else visited in the time we were there.
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Re: Boleigh by Andy B on Friday, 02 January 2009
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A page about the fogou from an antiquarian book viewpoint

http://mercuriuspoliticus.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/boleigh-fogou/
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Re: Boleigh by ocifant on Saturday, 13 March 2004
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March 2004, the site is in new hands, and the new owner has not yet decided on an access policy, so is currently amenable to granting access by arrangement as previously.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Boleigh by Bran on Monday, 02 September 2002
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Boligh Fogou is one of the treasures of this part of Cornwall , but please do not call it a Souterain, FOUGOUS are unique to Cornwall and have no connection with Souterains at all .They are a ritual chamber not a defensive part of a settlement or store room.
I have been there many times and still cannot see any sign of the so called guardian carving at the enterance that is in use today, this is a modern myth that has only been disimated in the last couple of decades and is the old thing of finding what you are told to find if you look hard enough.
The entrance where the figure is supposeed to be is not the original entrance and was probably made sometime in recent centuarys by locals looking for the treasure that was always supposed to be burried in these underground chambers (though some of these Fogous were actualy built above ground,and there are still some in existance built into our massive stone hedges)
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Boleigh by Anonymous on Wednesday, 14 March 2007
    But... How do you know it was a ritual chamber? Do you know something the rest of us, including most of the scientific community, don’t?
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: Boleigh by Anonymous on Sunday, 27 April 2008
    I'm not the OP but it seems unlikely to have been for food storage - mainly because its usually wet in Fougous in the winter!!! Also the very small entrance - hardly the best design for loading / unloading. Defence? Maybe, it would have merits - the small entrance for example. But again I doubt it - why would you retreat into a hole with no way out? Of course it may have served many purposes - in the same way that any public building does in times of need. But regarding ceremonial usage - it does seem to be designed as such - sensory deprivation, allegorical relationship with the sub/unconscious and, well, the place feels powerful...
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Boleigh by Anonymous on Sunday, 21 April 2002
Boleigh is a grand souterrain. It has a side chamber which can be entered if one is small enough to enter. There is also a carved warrior as sentry at the entrance. It is well worth the trip. To visit, one needs to make an appointment with the land owner. He is a grand gentleman who takes his stewardship of the land and the site very seriously.
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