SW4025 : St Buryan from Chapel Carn Brea
taken 3 years ago, near to St Buryan, Cornwall, England
A plaque at the entrance to the car park for this hill states:
"This hill, the most westerly in Britain* has long been an important landmark. The Bronze Age cairn of a type only found in Scilly and West Cornwall, is surrounded by smaller burial monuments. In the medieval period, a hermitage and chapel stood here, giving the hill its name. The associated beacon was maintained by the fishermen of St, Just and is still lit every midsummer eve. During the last war, a military observation post was built into the cairn as part of a small RADAR station."
* Note: I think that this should be England rather than Britain as Corrachadh Mòr on Ardnamurchan in Scotland is considerably further west.
The hill rises to 650' (198m)
On the summit is a chambered cairn 30' (9m) diameter with a south-facing entrance, built in the late neolithic period. The chamber was 8.9' (2.7m) long by 3.6' (1.1m) wide and 3.9' (1.2m) high.
There is the remains of an early neolithic long cairn to the west of the summit 36' (11m) long built within a natural granite outcrop extending its length by 85' (26m)
The views from the top of the hill are excellent, especially in a westerly direction out over Lands End to the Atlantic.