Featured: Lost Secrets - an adventure during Neolithic times

Lost Secrets - an adventure during Neolithic times

Sign the Petition to Protect Broxy Kennels Hillfort - Click Here

Sign the Petition to Protect Broxy Kennels Hillfort - Click Here

Who's Online

There are currently, 353 guests and 3 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Text Pages >> Yearle’s Fort - Hillfort in England in Cornwall

Submitted by Anonymous on Sunday, 27 January 2019  Page Views: 818

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Yearle’s Fort Alternative Name: Fort
Country: England County: Cornwall Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Looe  Nearest Village: Pelynt
Map Ref: SX2246555953
Latitude: 50.376614N  Longitude: 4.498204W
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.
3 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

Internal Links:
External Links:

Hillfort in Cornwall

All that remains of this fort is the oval shaped hedge and bank that surrounds a field. It position in the West Looe valley would have made it difficult to attack being on a steep sided promontry. Originally a small round fort at the north end, another circle was added to fill the current space. Eventually the Giants Hedge was built on the east side and this became the main defensive wall.

During the dark ages it was the site of a hermitage and Chapel for St Nunna, the mother of St David. An unspoilt well that bears her name is just to the north.

Folklore:

More detail about the well right next to the fort, which Mr Hamhead mentions in his fieldnotes. You may notice that the story is similar to that attached to various standing stones.
“On the western side of the beautiful valley through which flows the Trelawny River, and near Hobb's Park, in the parish of Pelynt, Cornwall, is St. Nunn's or St. Ninnie's Well. Its position was, until very lately, to be discovered by the oak and bramble which grew upon its roof. It is entered by a doorway with a stone lintel, and overshadowed by an oak. At the farther end of the floor is a round granite basin with a deeply moulded rim, and ornamented with a series of rings, each enclosing a cross or a ball. The water weeps into it from an opening at the back, and escapes again by a hole in the bottom.

An old farmer (so runs the legend) once set his eyes upon the granite basin and coveted it, for it was no wrong in his eyes to convert the holy font to the base uses of a pigsty, and accordingly he drove his oxen and wain to the gateway above for the purpose of removing it. Taking his beasts to the entrance of the well, he essayed to drag the trough from its ancient bed. For a long time it resisted the efforts of the oxen, but at length they succeeded in starting it, and dragged it slowly up the hillside to where the wain was standing. Here, however it burst away from the chains which held it, and, rolling back again to the well, made a sharp turn and regained its old position, where it has remained ever since. Nor will anyone again attempt its removal, seeing that the farmer who was previously well-to-do in the world, never prospered from that day forward. Some people say, indeed, that retribution overtook him on the spot, the oxen falling dead, and the owner being struck lame and speechless.

The people of the neighbourhood knew the well by the names St. Ninnie's, St. Nun's, and Piskies' Well. In the basin of the well may be found a great number of pins, thrown in by those who have visited it out of curiosity, or to avail themselves of the virtues of its waters. A writer, anxious to know what meaning the peasantry attach to this strange custom, on asking a man at work near the spot, was told that it was done "to get the goodwill of the Piskies," who after the tribute of a pin not only ceased to mislead them, but rendered fortunate the operations of husbandry.”
It has yet another name, St. Nonna's, on the OS map. From 'The legendary lore of the holy wells of England' by Robert Hope (1893)
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SX2256 : West Looe valley by Derek Harper
by Derek Harper
©2015(licence)
SX2256 : Gateway nr Hobb Park by roger geach
by roger geach
©2010(licence)
SX2256 : West Looe valley by Alan Simkins
by Alan Simkins
©2006(licence)
SX2256 : West Looe River Valley by Eric Foster
by Eric Foster
©2011(licence)
SX2256 : West Looe valley by Derek Harper
by Derek Harper
©2015(licence)

The above images may not be of the site on this page, they are loaded from Geograph.
Please Submit an Image of this site or go out and take one for us!


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive OS map

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 452m N 350° St Non's Well (Cornwall)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX224564)
 1.2km WSW 245° Hall Rings Hillfort (SX214555)
 1.9km SSE 146° Watergate Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX23455436)
 2.3km WSW 243° Holy Well in Pelynt Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX204550)
 2.4km NNE 23° St Cuby's Church Iron Age Fort* Hillfort (SX23485809)
 2.6km NE 37° St Cuby's Well (Duloe)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX24085796)
 2.6km NNE 23° Duloe* Stone Circle (SX23585831)
 2.9km SW 236° Pelynt Barrow Cemetery* Barrow Cemetery (SX200544)
 3.7km SE 143° Portlooe Cross* Ancient Cross (SX24625289)
 3.9km WSW 252° Bake rings* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX187549)
 4.0km ESE 112° Barrow near Looe Barrow Cemetery (SX2611054356)
 4.0km SE 127° St Mary's Well (Cornwall)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX256534)
 4.3km SSE 158° Hendersick Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SX23965196)
 4.4km SSW 208° Polperro (Kellow) Standing Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX20275216)
 4.9km SE 135° St Martin's Well (Shutta) Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX258524)
 4.9km NNE 26° St Keyne's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX248603)
 5.0km NW 311° Bury Camp (Cornwall)* Hillfort (SX188594)
 5.3km SSW 201° St Peter's Holy Well (Cornwall)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX20395105)
 5.5km ENE 68° Bin Down (East Looe)* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX2764957830)
 8.1km NW 321° Middle Taphouse Round Barrow (B)* Round Barrow(s) (SX175624)
 8.9km NW 322° Middle Taphouse Round Barrow (A)* Round Barrow(s) (SX172631)
 8.9km NNE 16° Pipe Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX252644)
 10.0km WSW 239° Polruan Standing Stones* Standing Stones (SX137510)
 10.2km NW 325° Largin Castle Hillfort (SX16896454)
 10.2km ENE 58° Padderbury Top Ancient Village or Settlement (SX3139661023)
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Heidenloch

Barrow near Looe >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Cornwall in Prehistory

Cornwall in Prehistory

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Yearle’s Fort" | Login/Create an Account | 0 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.