From Kenidjack Common to Chun Downs

07.06.2025

The day started with rain but around 2.30pm the sky began to clear. I was keen to see what had become of Tregeseal circle. Once a complex of a possible three circles, it was now reduced to just the one. Situated below Kenidjack Carn next to a wall where moor meets farmland, records had shown that the missing circles had been decimated by farming.

The walk up to it from the village of Tresegeal, just outside St Just was only twenty minutes. Once through a gate beyond a farm I was on Botallach Common where I followed the wall to the circle of nineteen evenly spaced stones with an assortment of fallen stones on it’s western side. I made my way around the perimeter examining each of the stones in turn. They varied in shape but were all between one and two metres in height. One of them resembled the tri stones I had come across amongst the circles on Bodmin. A stone on the northern arc caught my eye in particular. It seemed to have faint traces of Roman script on one side, like the standing stone of Men Scryfa up on North Down. Another had a flower offering placed in a groove at the head of the stone. I was consoled by the thought that this precarious monument had garnered some love and respect.

A notice board erected by Penwith Landscape Partnership back at the gate gave notice of a ‘No Fence’ grazing scheme that was on trial. This allowed the free movement of cattle on the moor which in turn would be a threat to this ancient site. It stated the cattle had collars that gave off an alarm sound if they ventured outside of their grazing zones, but this was clearly not working as cow pats were visible amongst the stones. 

I sat on the wall dividing the circle from the crop field to the south and witnessed more respect from a fast paced hiker who deviated from his path to pat a stone before carrying on his way. I turned my head to look at the field behind me and wondered if this was where the missing circles had been.

Up over Kenidjack Common the track gently dipped into a saddle of farmland on the other side. Ahead I could see the distant profile of the Iron Age fort of Chun Castle and the Chun Quoit below it to the west. A cuckoo piped up as I came to a road that dissected my route up to the quoit. I was surprised to hear it, with no trees of any note in view. The quoit was ringed off by a discreet fence amongst the ferns. I stabbed my staff into the ground, took off my rucksack and enjoyed the breeze coming up from the distant shoreline to the west.

Chun Quoit is made up of four uprights, all leaning in slightly, supporting a chunky capstone that appears to drape down at the edges. Along with Lanyon Quoit it remains one of the better preserved quoits on the peninsula. As I walked around it I was struck by the ambiguity of it’s assembly. It looked both sturdy and precarious at the same time depending of my view point, and from a certain angle there was a distinct resemblance to a giant mushroom. I moved in closer to see if I could see the cup mark that was supposed to be on the top of the capstone. I could make out something but I was unsure and being short and without a ladder I would remain so. I felt compelled to tap the capstone as I moved around it and discovered at one spot at the portal end to the right side, the tapping caused a percussive echo inside the chamber. How marvelous I thought, a musical instrument as well ! Like at Zennor Quoit the chamber itself is inaccessible, and a small square dignified space. I like the idea that some burial chambers are out of bounds.

From the quoit I headed up the hill a short distance to look at the Iron Age fort and then followed my footsteps back, passing by the circle where a young couple sat on the wall exactly where I had sat two hours before. Maybe they too were pondering over the fate of Tregeseal.