If you come to these parts, this place is well worth a pilgrimage. The walk from Land's End is an adveture in itself, and you pass Pordenack Point (an ancient clifftop enclosure with cairns and an inspiring position) plus what's probably Britain's best collection of rock simulacra.
For your interest, here's a quote from my forthcoming book 'Shining Land' about Penwith...
Carn Lês Boel
Carn of the Court of the Axe (SW 3571 2325)
Never inhabited – it wouldn’t be suitable – Carn Lês Boel was reserved for singular occasions. A highly energetic place with a wide-open character, and exposed in winds and gales – not a good place to live. But it is special and strong – perhaps the most sanctified and powerful of the cliff sanctuaries of Penwith, with a deep and spacious feeling to it. It feels as if it served as a place for seers, holy people and their trainees. Ovates (counsellors and judges) could have held court here, or druids might have held special rites on chosen occasions. It has that feeling – to me, at least. This is distinctly a sacred, crown-chakra kind of place, with a steady, uplifting majesty, like a launchpad for the far beyond.
With its two guardian gateway stones (one now fallen), it feels distinctly consecrated – not a place for everyone, anytime. To enter, you had to pass through the gateway, an energy threshold it is not difficult to feel – pause there and ask to enter. Most walkers on the nearby coast path tend to walk on by without noticing the carn or going onto it, so perhaps its protection still holds today. It is prominent and hallowed yet veiled.
There were two thresholds to cross when entering the carn. The first was a ditch near the coast path, demarcating the headland, and the second was the two gateway stones. One of these is a classic propped stone, raised slightly above the ground on a few small rocks. Why this was done we do not know, but presumably it gave significance or power to the rock.
On the summit is a flattish rock platform where there is a strong energy vortex – if you visit, see if you can intuit the spot and stand on it awhile. You might find yourself swaying around, and not just in response to buffeting wind. A menhir-like rock, now ignominiously tipped over the side of the platform, might originally have been upright, standing on top of this vortex and platform. Along the carn are two more vortices: one at an upstanding, bulgy earthfast rock and another at a rock platform further down. See if you can find them.
Carn Lês Boel means headland-court-axe – court as in ‘royal court’. The axe could, at a stretch, symbolise cutting through life’s confusions, a breakthrough or even something like a judge’s gavel, signifying a final decision made. Though it can mean ‘axe-shaped’ too, which it is, in a way. The carn has a strong sense of spirit and of primeval beings. It is otherworldly, deep and dimensional, with a profound sense of interiority.
This hits you when you enter – a sense of presence, elevation, far horizons and detachment from normal life. It feels connected with the whole wide world, with its oceanic panorama. Africa and the Americas are just over the horizon. It’s worth settling down at a chosen spot, closing your eyes and spending time just being there. The carn has a lot of inner light. It is welcoming if you are open to it. Gulls and peregrine falcons wheel around, soaring on the updraughts. Below are caves in which the seals take shelter to rest and give birth to their young.
Carn Lês Boel is aligned with Avebury, Glastonbury Tor, the Hurlers stone circle in East Cornwall and Carn Brea, on the Michael Line. Progress that alignment south-westwards along the arc of a great circle and you’ll come to the Maya lands of Yucatan, Mexico, four thousand miles away.
To me this is one of the most special places in Penwith. I go there when I need to hear the still, small voice within, to step out of my everyday world. It pulls me into a deep, timeless state. It has been a place of memorable moments and punctuation-points in life. So, stay awhile and you might find that you receive a gift of grace in your heart and soul. The carn, together with the inspiring walk from Porthgwarra or Land’s End, has a cleansing, clearing, uplifting effect. The Atlantic rollers coming in from the west can sometimes be thunderous and mighty, building up as they approach the bays to the north and south of the carn.
On the north side is a collapsed cavern – now a big gash as seen from Nanjizal Bay. It is thought that this fell in sometime in the last 2,000 years – so possibly it was originally a cave, not a gash, when the carn was in use in ancient times. The presence of caverns somehow add to the carn’s qualities. Seal caves were significant to the ancients: a menhir at Higher Bosistow, the Seal Stone, a short distance away, is shaped literally like a seal looking toward the caves.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road