Lanyon Quoit

Lanyon Quoit a Neolithic chambered tomb can be found not too far from the Merry Maidens and Men-an-Tol in Cornwall. In fact they are all so close together that you must conclude the ancient Britons who designed and built them must have possessed an awful lot of free time. So much for an arduous lifestyle of hunting and gathering and proto-farming. These guys were swanning around, putting stones in fields, with gay abandon. It seems like one hell of a strenuous pastime to me! Anyhow, their bizarre hobby has paid dividends; we now have some wonderfully chilled sites where we can marvel at Man's ingenuity and aesthetic eye. Fantastic.

Although Lanyon Quoit is not a big site, the stones themselves are massive. The capstone is quite the biggest piece of rock you have ever seen! It is quite an odd configuration of stones having been rebuilt in the 1820's after the poor thing fell over! One of the original uprights had given up the ghost, so when it was re-built they just did without it. Cunning! However, the quoit is now somewhat lower than once it was. The stones are set against a backdrop of flat heath land, giving their stark simplicity greater emphasis and beauty. This is certainly one chilled spot, well worth that extra mellow moment. And all this within a tiny stroll from the nearest convenient parking spot on the Madron to Morvah road from where you can see the stones. Great.

Ambassador: you really are spoiling us with this Lanyon Quoit. How fortunate we are, that our ancient forefathers had the foresight to knock-up these archaeological treats.