Carn Euny

Back again to Cornwall and an ancient village of Carn Euny.

 This is the remains of an Iron age village that was occupied until late in the Roman Era.

Originally the huts were timber but were replaced by stone and these remain until today. The houses have courtyards with rooms leading off them and then a big main room. Whether these were "bedrooms" or used for animals is uncertain.

A fascinating place - under here is the fogue.

Whats a fogue?

It's a stone roofed passage! A fogue  is an underground, dry-stone structure found on Iron age settlement sites in Cornwall. Similar to the souterrains of Orkney it is not believed they were used for storage but that they had a ritual purpose.


The fogou of Carn Euny is in remarkably good condition and consists of a 20 m long corridor, with a side passage that leads to a round stone chamber with a collapsed roof, and a small tunnel.


It is also home to some moss that glows in light - really weird. It is virtually unnoticeable until you shine a light on it - then this happens!

Walking on past the settlement we found the first of two "holy" wells.


 One is mentioned in The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England  of 1893 where William Borlase  stated   in the 1750s:

"I happened luckily to be at this well upon the last day of the year, on which, according to vulgar opinion, it exerts its principal and most salutary powers. Two women were here, who came from a neighbouring parish, and were busily employed in bathing a child. They both assured me that people who had a mind to receive any benefit from St. Euny's Well must come and wash upon the three first Wednesdays in May. Children suffering from mesenteric disease should be dipped three times in Chapel Uny widderschynnes, and widderschynnes dragged three times round the well."

OR did he mean this one? It isn't clear from the writings.