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<< Our Photo Pages >> Dinas Head (Trevose) - Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle in England in Cornwall

Submitted by theCaptain on Thursday, 09 January 2014  Page Views: 7095

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Dinas Head (Trevose)
Country: England County: Cornwall Type: Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle
Nearest Town: Padstow  Nearest Village: St Merryn
Map Ref: SW84987621
Latitude: 50.546022N  Longitude: 5.036314W
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
2 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
4

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Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by theCaptain : What a lovely place this is out here on a sunny day with the waves crashing in all around on this most spectacular part of the coast, the lighthouse to the northeast, and the surf and sands of Boobies and Constantine Bays to the southwest. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Dinas Head is a promontary headland at the Western tip of the Trevose Headland. I can find no record of this having ever been a cliffort, but it would seem to be an ideal location, with its narrow neck separating it from the main bulk of Trevose headland.

Although there is no obvious sign on top of the promontary of any defensive ramparts across the neck, it has to be said that the ground is worn flat to the bare rock here, with no soil or ground cover at all, no doubt its all been washed away during past storms where the waves will have probably washed right over the top of the headland taking all the soil etc with them. Looking at various photos since my visit, and at the edges of the promontary neck, it would appear that there are indeed two parallel scrapes running across the headland and down the sides towards the sea, perhaps once the bottom of ditches cut into the bedrock.

What a lovely place this is out here on a sunny day with the waves crashing in all around on this most spectacular part of the coast, the lighthouse to the northeast, and the surf and sands of Boobies and Constantine Bays to the southwest.

Note: Not knowingly recognised as a promontary fort, I have often wondered and thought it should be. This year I visited and noted that the way onto the headland was bare - devoid of all loose rock and soil with which any defensive ramparts would be made - at the narrowest part. Could this be due to storms and large waves crashing over the headland washing it clean? Well, now we know that could be the case, with pictures showing waves of storm Hercules crashing onto and over the headland.
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Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by Bladup : Dinas Head Fort (Trevose) from the South East (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by Bladup : Looking over the possible defences at Dinas Head Fort (Trevose), The hump on the headland is Dinas Head Tumulus (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by Bladup : Dinas Head Fort (Trevose) from the North East (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by Bladup : Dinas Head Fort (Trevose), The view South from the Fort/Headland (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by Bladup : Dinas Head Fort (Trevose), Looking over the slight defences, The slight hump on the hill in the background is Dinas Head Tumulus (Vote or comment on this photo)

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by Bladup : On the left is Dinas Head Fort (Trevose), Photo taken from Constantine Bay

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by Bladup : Dinas Head Fort (Trevose), Looking inland over the defences

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by Bladup : Dinas Head Fort (Trevose), Looking over the slight bank and ditch

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by TheCaptain : 12 June 2022. Dinas Head is glorious today, with many seals in the sea below, and puffins flying around. (1 comment)

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by theCaptain : Dinas Head seen from across Constantine Bay to the southwest.

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by theCaptain : I wonder whether I am seeing the faint trace of the bottom of defensive ditches gouged into the worn rock? Many nearby hillforts have the ditches cut right into the bedrock. Borrowed from mikeaitch

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by theCaptain : I wonder whether I am seeing the faint trace of the bottom of defensive ditches gouged into the worn rock? Many nearby hillforts have the ditches cut right into the bedrock.

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by theCaptain : Dinas Head as seen from the car park on Trevose head. Is that the remnants of a ditch scraped across the bottom of the headland ?

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by theCaptain : Dinas Head is a promontary headland at the Western tip of the Trevose Headland.

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by theCaptain : Photo of Dinas Head, Trevose, taken during the recent storms, showing the waves washing over the height of the headland. Borrowed from Gregg Painter and Cornwall Holiday guide. I thought this photo would be useful to compare with my recent notes from here, but it looks like I have yet to upload them and my pictures! Have to say that only yesterday I was wishing I was here to check on m...

Dinas Head (Trevose)
Dinas Head (Trevose) submitted by mikeaitch : Tumulus on Dinas Head, photo taken from car park at Trevose Headland which is at the end of a toll road. Spectacular views of North Cornish Coast make this a beautiful place to watch the sunset. Will try to take some close-up shots next visit. (1 comment)

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 148m WSW 248° Dinas Head Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (SW84847616)
 1.3km SE 143° Constantine Island* Barrow Cemetery (SW85727513)
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Cornovia: Ancient Sites of Cornwall and Scilly, Craig Weatherhill

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"Dinas Head (Trevose)" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Re: Dinas Head (Trevose) by 4clydesdale7 on Thursday, 16 January 2014
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I was beginning to think I had missed something - but perhaps my dear friend 'Captain' I may not have - being a 'grockle' who at one time invaded Cornwall and lived at Fowey in the last millenium I felt I might 'blend in' a bit if I found out a little more on Cornish Prehistory (plus learning Cornish Tactics to use when racing boats - starboard is pronounced differently) and that word 'dreckly' which is phenomenally useful

The supposed promontory hillfort at Dinas Head has been speculated upon for quite a few decades (perhaps even centuries pre 1500 at least) - may I draw your audience's attention to

(a) Proceedings of the West Cornwall Field Club (1959) Reference 2.3.113/21 wherein a superb commentary on Cornish Cliff Castles by Dr M Alwin Cotton may be found AND
(b) The page on the Pastscape website for Monument Number 429464 Dinas (aka Trevose) Head St.Merryn Cornwall

The site has been registered as an Ancient Monument but is awaiting classification probably because EH's 'spy in the sky' cannot find any earthworks (thereby supporting your excellent sailor's eyes Capn) -

However as a matter of 'grockle humour' who would want to pitch a tent on a barren bleak and wind battered spot (more wrecks around Trevose Head than there are around the whole of the Gower) and immediately south of a lovely cornish cove which someone called 'Stinking Cove'?

Perhaps like many Victorians we get carried away by etymology and read more into something than we should - Dinas can mean Camp, Hillfort or City and something smaller like 'somewhere to rest' (one or two residential pits could be called a 'Dinas' but would you excavate that?) - no the Victorians had visions of grandure and could only get funds for 'big projects' - as we (me and thee Captain) know all too well in 'Gloster'
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Re: Dinas Head (Trevose) by Anonymous on Thursday, 16 January 2014
Dinas Head is listed on the Cornwall HER (Historic Environment Record) as a probable cliff castle with no remains. It goes on to say: "The name Dinas Head, suggesting the site of a castle from the Cornish dinas, 'fort', and here implying a cliff castle, was first recorded in 1531 (b1). There are no more details, and any earthworks are likely to have been obscured by the nearby quarrying works."

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Re: Dinas Head (Trevose) by ForestDaughter on Tuesday, 14 January 2014
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Fab place and beautiful photos, TheCaptain. What interests me is that there are a lot of high places in West Dorset, which aren't named as hillforts or of prehistoric usage, but have all the recognisable hallmarks.

A professor of paleontology once told me that the large majority of known sites have never been excavated (maybe because most archaeology is rescue now, I wonder?), so there are plenty more that haven't even been logged yet. Fascinating to think there's still so much out there isn't it!
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Re: Dinas Head (Trevose) by sem on Tuesday, 14 January 2014
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Martyn, Dinas in Welsh means city. It could refer to human habitation but is often used to refer to the congregation of animals. eg Dinas Bran near Llangollen - City of Crows.
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    Re: Dinas Head (Trevose) by TheCaptain on Tuesday, 14 January 2014
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    Thanks Sem. Without really thinking, or looking anything up, it was in the back of my mind that Dinas was hill - there are several Castle an Dinas hillforts in Cornwall, which translated to fort on the hill. Perhaps not, perhaps its a double fort and settlement, or castle fort.

    I think there are quite a few other Dinas Heads or similar in Cornwall, and maybe a few in Brittanny, although that largely becomes Dinan.

    It all adds up !
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