Photographs taken 2004
This is a very old neolithic burial chamber, that dates from somewhere between 4,000 BC and 3,000 BC during the Neolithic Age, and is over 5,000 years old. Trethevy Quoit can be found not far from St.Cleer, and is situated in a field above Tremar Coombe, that can either be approached along a bridleway from Tremar (very muddy if wet!), or more easily from the other end of the bridleway, by the triangle in the road at the little hamlet of Trethevy, near Trethevy Farm.
The chamber itself was probably a sacred site, and used as a communal tomb for the bones of the dead in the surrounding area, and would originally have been covered by an earth mound. There are subtle remains of this mound, or at least evidence for it, from the few stones placed around the chamber, and the slight mound that it still sits on. Trethevy is one of the best preserved chambers in the country of its type.
Trethevy Quoit
Looking up at Trethevy Quoit - the eye in the top stone may have been put there for when the chamber was originally constructed (this however still remains a theory), to help lift and haul the stone into position - no mean feat of engineering at the time. The top cap stone is also at a considerably greater angle than it would have been originally, as the western-most (lower end) support stone has collapsed inside, at some time in the past.
Another view looking through the stones, and the entrance to the
main chamber can be seen on the left.
Looking through Trethevy Quoit burial chamber
Trethevy Quoit is set very close to the small hamlet of Trethevy, and as such, from one side looks very close to modern habitation, but in the days it was constructed it would have been a prominent feature on the hill. A sense of its location can be seen from the opposite side, but even then, the relatively modern (old!) Cornish hedge would also not have been there.
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