Carn Euny
 Prehistoric Britain |
The Lands End peninsula of Cornwall, with its ragged coastline and windtorn moorland, is littered with ancient sites. Stone circles, chamber tombs, prehistoric settlements, huge dolmens, a profusion of standing stones - the peninsula spoils the enthusiast for choice, such is the density here of prehistoric monuments.
Amongst the offerings in this museum of prehistory is Carn Euny village, established in the Iron Age sometime before 500BC and occupied until the Roman invasion of Britain in 43AD. Being more isolated in its situation than other of the peninsula sites the village is less often visited, and remains, perhaps, the more enigmatic for that, retaining an air of quiet mystery. At first sight all one sees is simply a collection of small grass-covered stone walls, apparently all that remains to us of this ancient village or farmstead. However, below ground Carn Euny holds to itself a hidden gem.
Undoubtedly, the most impressive structure at Carn Euny is the fogou (Cornish for "cave" and pronounced "foogoo"). It is an artificial underground passage built from stone and peculiar to ancient sites in the Cornish region. Carn Euny provides the best example of such a structure, which here predates the surrounding village by several centuries, eventually to be incorporated into
the settlement proper.
The small entrance to the fogou is deceptive in height, for it is quite possible to stand upright within the space of the underground passageway. A smaller, shorter passage leads off immediately to the left while at the far end of the chamber is another opening. This leads one into a quite remarkable circular chamber with a corbelled roof through which light filters from a small opening high up. This chamber is considered to be a unique structure, very atmospheric and solitary, having no known parallels with fogous elsewhere. In common with most fogous Carn Euny has a small "creep" passage to the side, possibly the emergency exit.
Unfortunately, the purpose served by fogous remains a mystery, whether used for storage, habitation or ritual is quite unknown. As a place of refuge for solitary contemplation, the fogou may well serve 21st century man's desire to quietly examine the "inner self", away from the trappings of modernity.