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Here is a video of the damage to the site created by farm machinery and horses with no concern shown to the quoit in the slightest
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Roy Goutté
Not Before Time…
After what seems an age, East Cornwall’s Jewel in the Crown site Trethevy Quoit, a portal dolmen, has finally been placed on the Heritage At Risk Register by English Heritage.
In my book Trethevy Quoit: Cornwall’s Megalithic Masterpiece, I warned of the possibilities of the quoit collapsing sooner rather than later if it wasn’t protected more from stock eroding its supporting base coupled with the movement of the front closure stone that is being pushed out alarmingly by the massive capstone. The later placing of a leaning stone to the front of the quoit has been misunderstood for years as ‘forming a porch’ when in fact it has been vital to the structure to prevent the closure stone from moving out further. This can only go on for so long as the support is now all but done!
Trethevy Quoit from the rear showing it listing as the main supporting front closure leans perilously outward
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Roy Goutté
It makes my blood run cold when I see local children and holidaymakers climbing inside the rear of the tomb and sitting on a leaning divider that is resting against that heavily leaning closure stone putting added pressure on it. Whole families sit on the stone while a family photograph is taken and children enter the front chamber and crawl under said stone – and there is nothing to stop them. It is a disaster waiting to happen.
Fortunately, since the publication of my book, the field housing the dolman has been bought by The Cornwall Heritage Trust. When the site came up for sale Historic England helped to safeguard it by giving a £19,000 grant to the trust to purchase the field. It is now working with the trust and English Heritage to improve the site, protect the monument and ensure that it can still be enjoyed by local people and visitors. I sincerely hope that its stability is prioritised first above everything else and the monument shut down to visitors until that is complete. A simple temporary wire fence with signage surrounding the monument would suffice I’m sure and still allow the public to view it. Whatever, I’m sure the trust will do the right thing and safeguard this remarkable construct that our great ancestors bequeathed to us to marvel at and hopefully will still do for many generations to come.
Trethevy Quoit
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Roy Goutté
The main supporting orthostat, the front closure stone to the right, is leaning out 56cm (22″) out of the perpendicular. Being only 3m.10cm tall (10ft 3inches) that is some lean and very close to the point of no return IMO. To the left is the added buttress with a granite block between it and the closure stone. It can only support so much. Urgent intervention is required. In my opinion the buttress stone came from a former position in the construct and is documented.
Roy Goutté
Please also see Chris Matthews’ report in CornwallLive here.
On the summit of Leskernick Hill looking westward toward Brown Willy and Roughtor
Leskernick Stone Circles and Stone Row Clearance: Press release by Roy Goutté. Images © Roy Goutté.
I am delighted to announce to The Heritage Trust that, after an application was made to Natural England by myself, consent has been granted to excavate and clear the recumbent and buried standing stones of the north and south stone circles to the base of the Bronze-Age settlement at Leskernick Hill, near Altarnun, Cornwall. Consent has also been granted to carry out the same procedure on the stone row running south-west to north-east between the two circles. The work is to be carried out by a small team of experienced Bodmin Moor clearance volunteers (TimeSeekers) under the periodic watchful eye of the area’s Historic England Heritage at Risk Officer.
The Methodology involved:
As the two stone circles and stone row beneath the southern slopes of Leskernick Hill are at serious risk of losing their identity now that 95% of the standing stones have fallen and returning to nature, the aim of the clearance would be to bring the hidden parts of the circles and stone row ‘back to life’ by sympathetically removing the vegetation and turf ‘carpet’ off the stones without damage taking place and without any soil being removed below the exposed top surfaces. The removed material is to be suitably relocated locally.
Procedure:
. Record and photograph the existing visible stones and stone mounds to be cleared prior to work commencing on both the circles and stone row. Video recording to also take place.
. Carefully cut through the turf/vegetation just beyond the exterior edge of the covered/partly covered stones.
. Carefully and without damage to the stone surfaces, peel back the turf/vegetation and reposition in previously sought out local areas requiring repair/improvement. Clean and wash stones off with clean water only.
. Buried ring stones and those in the stone row detected by probing but not identified by exterior mounding of the turf, to be exposed, recorded and photographed, but, if considered to be too deep to be left exposed and a danger to both stock and the public alike, to be re-covered.
. On completion of all work, leave the three cleared areas in a tidy condition and provide a field report and survey of the works carried out together with photographs and video links.
We feel privileged as amateur archaeologists to have been granted this permission on such a prestigious and important site as Leskernick. To stand amongst and look down from the proliferation of round houses on the southern side of Leskernick Hill to the landscape beneath where surely ceremonial and ritualistic activities took place in sight of so many ancient local landmarks, makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Our great ancestors may no longer be there in person but I wonder if they ever really left, as judging by the sheer number of small earth-fast tri-stones dotted about it may also be their last resting place. To be given the opportunity to once again bring the circles and stone row ‘back to life’ and in the public gaze is why we do this. Our heritage means everything and we should do everything to keep it that way!
Two of the three only remaining standing stones and the recumbent central pillar of the North Circle. The remaining stones lie buried beneath the surface
One of the many round-house remains on Leskernick Hill
A last resting place?
Roy Goutté
North Hill
Cornwall


My grandfather purchased Silbury Hill, introduced the first legislation to protect ancient monuments, and placed the hill under permanent guardianship. As owner of the site, I am concerned by the conflicting messages now being sent out by English Heritage, such as their plan to allow a “time capsule” to be buried in the monument. The current Silbury Hill conservation project, for which EH deserves credit, is designed to restore the original fabric by backfilling with pure chalk. Placing a foreign object in the monument offends conservation principles, as well as the spiritual beliefs of some people. Describing the object as a time capsule means that EH expects it to be retrieved at some future date, requiring further tunnelling, yet the current works have been undertaken to correct the mistakes of past excavations.
English Heritage should give the public clear uncomplicated messages about how to enjoy ancient monuments respectfully, and should set the very best of examples themselves.
Eric Avebury
House of Lords
Source Historic England.