the giants rock. zennor.

the giants rock. zennor. this massive natural rock feature that has been associated by william borlase (and others) with a destroyed chambered tomb of the same name. this logan rock (balancing stone) is approx. 5.5m by 2.0m and 1.0m thick. it is said that it still rocks but It seems to have moved sufficiently to prevent this now. there is a natural rock basin on its upper surface and a small cup-mark on the higher southern end that seems artificial and suggests the rock may have been part of a larger ceremonial complex that included the chambered tomb and standing stone in its immediate vicinity. it is set against zennor hill with it’s possible enclosure, propped stones and it’s own logan rock and can be seen here in the background

zennor quoit. neolithic chambered tomb.

zennor quoit. neolithic chambered tomb. w borlase the antiquarian drew a plan of the site in the mid-c18 when the capstone was roughly horizontal and the chamber was set into a low stony mound approx 12.8m in diameter. by the time his great-great grandson visited the site in the middle of the c19, the capstone had slipped and the western upright supporting it had snapped.
the site today comprises two chambers set into a low stony mound. the main chamber is trapezoidal with its long axis running off NNE by 75 degrees. the western end is 0.83m wide, reducing to 1.9m. the total length being 3.16m. the capstone now tilted and following the line of the supporting stones is 5.33m by 2.9m and weighs about 9.45 tonnes. it has an antechamber at the eastern end formed by two impressive portal stones.
quoits are among the oldest megalithic architecture on the west penwith peninsula and would have represented a local variation of a tradition which had travelled from the levant up the west coast of spain to brittany, to arrive in cornwall in the late neolithic, around 3300 bce on route to wales, anglesea and ireland