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| Boscawen-Un | |
|---|---|
| Name | Boscawen-Un |
| Map type | Cornwall |
| Location | St Buryan, Cornwall |
| Type | Stone circle |
| Epoch | Neolithic to Bronze Age |
| Condition | Partially destroyed |
Boscawen-Un.
Boscawen-Un is a prehistoric stone circle and ritual site near St Buryan, Cornwall, described in archaeological literature alongside monuments such as Stonehenge, Avebury, Callanish Stones, Ring of Brodgar, Castlerigg Stone Circle and Machrie Moor. It is frequently compared in surveys by institutions like the Royal Archaeological Institute, the Cornwall Archaeological Society, the Historic England and scholars publishing in journals such as the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, the Antiquaries Journal, the Cornish Archaeology monograph series and the Journal of Field Archaeology. The site has drawn attention from figures including William Borlase, John Aubrey, Sir Flinders Petrie, Edward Lhuyd and W. G. Collingwood.
Boscawen-Un lies on the Penwith plateau near Penzance, between landmarks like Porthcurno, Land's End, Lamorna Cove, Gurnard's Head and Minack Theatre on the Cornwall peninsula, close to the parish of St Buryan, Cornwall and the civil parish boundaries used in studies by the Ordnance Survey and the Cornwall Council. The monument is sited within a landscape of Neolithic Britain monuments, proximate to Mên-an-Tol, Lanyon Quoit, Zennor Quoit, Tregeseal East, The Merry Maidens and Boscawen-Ûn Ridge as recorded in topographic surveys by the Royal Geographic Society and regional catalogues by the Pevsner Architectural Guides. Topographically it occupies a low knoll with views to the Atlantic Ocean, Mount's Bay, the Isles of Scilly and the nearby Mên Scryfa standing stone.
The circle comprises upright stones, orthostats, a bank and a central stone setting, elements consistent with stone circles catalogued by Alexander Thom, A. L. F. Rivet, Stuart Piggott, Graeme Barker and Colin Renfrew. The stone types include local granites and metamorphic rocks comparable to material from quarries documented by André G. Cunliffe, John Symonds, Harold St George Gray and geological surveys by the British Geological Survey. The orthostats show packing stones, weathering and lichen colonisation referenced in conservation reports by English Heritage and scientific analyses published in the Journal of Archaeological Science and the Antiquity journal. The layout exhibits an axial alignment and entrance orientation discussed in typologies by Clive Ruggles, Alexander Thom, Euan Mackie and comparative plans in the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society.
Scholars place construction in the late Neolithic to early Bronze Age phases, contemporary with activity at West Kennet Long Barrow, Coldrum Long Barrow, Barrow Clump and other ritual landscapes examined in syntheses by Chris Gosden, Julian Richards, Barry Cunliffe and Mike Parker Pearson. Antiquarians such as William Stukeley and John Leland documented the monument in early surveys correlated with place-name studies by Oliver Padel and cultural histories by Simon Schama and David Rudling. The site features in regional identity and Cornish heritage campaigns led by Cornwall Heritage Trust, Cornwall Council and the National Trust, and figures in literary and art works by Daphne du Maurier, Alfred Wallis, Roger Deakin and scholars of Cornish studies.
Excavations and field surveys at the site have been recorded by teams affiliated with University of Exeter, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University College London, Institute of Archaeology, UCL, Royal Cornwall Museum and the Cornwall Archaeological Unit. Reports cite stratigraphic observations, radiocarbon dates calibrated against the IntCal curve, pollen analyses in journals like Holocene, Vegetation History and Archaeobotany and isotopic work published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Key investigators include Antony G. Young, Tim Darvill, Nigel Jeffries, Peter Herring and international collaborators cited in monographs by the Archaeology Data Service and conference proceedings of the European Association of Archaeologists.
Local folklore links the circle to legends collected by folklorists such as D. R. Kinsley, Katharine Briggs, Edward Vernon, Robert Hunt and William Bottrell, connecting it to tales of giants, fairies, the Cornish language revival, and seasonal customs like Obby Oss-style festivities and midsummer rites recorded by the Folklore Society. Poets and writers including John Betjeman, Thomas Hardy, Percy Bysshe Shelley and William Wordsworth engaged with Cornish antiquities in verse and prose, and antiquarian accounts note ritual deposition of flint, pottery and metalwork comparable to finds from Celtic Europe contexts documented in corpus volumes by the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Management and protection fall under statutory designations promoted by agencies such as Historic England, Cornwall Council, the National Trust and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport with entries in the Heritage at Risk Register and scheduling under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Conservation practice draws on guidance from the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists, ICOMOS, the World Monuments Fund and regional conservation plans coordinated with local stakeholders like St Buryan Parish Council and volunteer groups affiliated with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. The site is accessible via public footpaths linked to the South West Coast Path, with visitor information provided by the Cornwall Tourist Board and interpretation in museums including the Penlee House Gallery and Museum and the Royal Cornwall Museum.
Category:Stone circles in Cornwall Category:Archaeological sites in Cornwall Category:Neolithic sites in England