Phillack and the Hayle Estuary in the Late Roman and early medieval periods — a brief post by me :) http://www.caitlingreen.org/2018/05/phillack-and-the-hayle-estuary.html …pic.twitter.com/4bAohQuuPn
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Some further support for this idea might be had from St Ia of St Ives, located just around the bay from the Hayle Estuary, who was arguably an Early Byzantine saint:https://twitter.com/caitlinrgreen/status/953724742221090817 …
Interestingly, there is evidence for Late Roman trading links between the Hayle Estuary & the eastern Mediterranean too, prefiguring the better-known 5th-/6th-century links between this area & Cornwall e.g. coin of Constantius II, mint of Alexandria, c. AD 340, found at Phillack.pic.twitter.com/JIFKY3YPms
If there was a probable 5th-century AD and later ecclesiastical centre (possibly monastic in character) with continental links in the Hayle Estuary at Phillack, there may also have been a secular centre too at Carnsew Hillfort.pic.twitter.com/r6K4Swvamq
Carnsew Hillfort, Hayle — a small coastal multivallate Iron Age hillfort that commands the entrance to the Hayle Estuary and sits atop a low cliff around 15 metres high: http://www.caitlingreen.org/2018/05/phillack-and-the-hayle-estuary.html …pic.twitter.com/6futbJtxZJ
Although Carnsew Hillfort is unexcavated, there is evidence for post-Roman activity here via a late 5th- or very early 6th-century AD burial & associated inscribed memorial stone (the Cunaide Stone) that originally stood at the foot of the hillfort: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/cisp/database/stone/hayle_1.html …pic.twitter.com/uUGRhLiJbt
The view from Carnsew Hillfort, Cornwall, showing its commanding view of the mouth of the Hayle Estuary and out into St Ives Bay.pic.twitter.com/OONXzgeSn0
Incidentally, Phillack Church is also visible from the ramparts of Carnsew Hillfort, with the sand dunes of The Towans rising up behind it.pic.twitter.com/XZbDoulEJi
A Late Roman coin hoard deposited in a bronze container in the late 3rd century AD; it was found a little to the west of Carnsew Hillfort in 1825, when workmen were taking away the upper part of the cliff and the adjoining field during the construction of the Hayle causeway.pic.twitter.com/NNyfNFqhZ4
Inside the ramparts of Carnsew Hillfort, Hayle; unfortunately, the hillfort has been partially destroyed by ploughing, a deep railway cutting, and the construction of an ornamental park along its ramparts in 1845 ('The Plantation').pic.twitter.com/QQ2QeqcS6a
Also visible from Carnsew Hillfort is Lelant Church; it has been suggested that the churchyard within which Lelant parish church now sits may preserve the rectangular platform of a Roman fort that was well placed to control access to the Hayle Estuary...pic.twitter.com/gds4YAIa6f
A closer view of Lelant's rectangular churchyard, which sits around 1.5 metres above the surrounding ground.pic.twitter.com/pPdX5n6AFG
View of the entrance to the Hayle Estuary from the north-east corner of Lelant churchyard.pic.twitter.com/DPnHFhuHIp
Finally, Charles Thomas suggests that the Neolithic tor enclosure and Iron Age multivallate hillfort of Trencrom Hill, which is located 1.5 miles to the west of the Hayle Estuary & overlooks it, may have also played a role in the 'post-Roman' era...pic.twitter.com/KedVo7wJKx
Looking out towards St Ives Bay and Godrevy Lighthouse from Trencrom Hill, Cornwall; an early medieval inscribed stone has been identified in a stile at the foot of the hillfort & there are reports of early medieval grass-marked wares having been found on the fort itself.pic.twitter.com/KiIFOgHJgY
Indeed, not only can one see St Ives Bay and the Hayle Estuary clearly from the top of Trencrom Hill...pic.twitter.com/91Xx2FJTdr
...but St Michael's Mount and Mount's Bay on the south coast of Cornwall can also be seen from here too!pic.twitter.com/Phbz4U6v1r
For some additional photos of Trencrom Hill, including this lovely one looking across to St Michael's Mount, see this blog by @ESDale77 :) https://cornishbirdblog.com/2016/06/01/a-fort-with-a-view/ …pic.twitter.com/jLPn28Tywh
Looking back to Phillack (Cornwall), there are a number of interesting pre-Conquest finds from here in addition to the stone sculpture mentioned above; for example, this late 10th-century cut silver halfpenny of Æthelræd II (978–1016), found near the church.pic.twitter.com/5V4h8IDqBE
A silver penny of Cnut (1016–35), Posthumous Type (1035–6), minted at Exeter and found at Phillack, Cornwall; a coin of Harthacnut dated 1036–7 was also found nearby.pic.twitter.com/0XeAdQAcIu
A 9th- to 11th-century Hiberno-Norse buckle found at Phillack, Cornwall: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/190941 … & https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/617264 …pic.twitter.com/qIrRjGaQXQ
Phillack isn't the only Cornish site to have produced a 5th-century Chi-Rho stone; another was found at St Helen's Chapel, Cape Cornwall...pic.twitter.com/3a8tg5kfbt
Unfortunately, only a drawing of the Chi-Rho stone from Cape Cornwall survives (right; left=Phillack); the stone was taken to St Just church where it was displayed for a while, until a Rector who objected to it as too 'Roman Catholic' had it thrown down a well in the 19thC!pic.twitter.com/2FEWnTgLHf
Trencrom Hill overlooking St Ives Bay, Cornwall, as seen from the opposite side of the bay at Godrevy.pic.twitter.com/L9smj7t0hh
A view through the probably Iron Age east entrance to Trencrom hillfort, with Carn Brea (likewise reoccupied in the Iron Age) visible through it on the horizon; between the two is the Hayle Estuary and the small Iron Age hillfort of Carnsew, mentioned above.pic.twitter.com/wbwA2uIFOx
Another view of the Iron Age ramparts of Carnsew Hillfort, Hayle, thought to have been reused in the early medieval period.pic.twitter.com/ks9lGwEePW
Looking along the railway line at Lelant towards the site of the buried early medieval chapel & late/post-Roman burial site that was encountered under the dunes of Lelant Towans in 1875 during the construction of the railway link to St Ives.pic.twitter.com/yqvfVehHVv
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