By Myghal Map Serpren Introduction The ancient town of Penryn in Cornwall stands by the river bearing its name and around a mile inland from Falmouth. Penryn is a Cornish placename translating into English as ‘hill spur’ or ‘promontory’ and there have been substantial archaeological finds in the district from as early as Neolithic times. The settlement was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 although there is ample evidence of human activity in the area dating back to the dawn of human history. © OpenStreetMap contributors  The town was founded in 1216 and Glasney College, a great ..read more

By Myghal Map Serpren The ancient town of Penryn in Cornwall stands by the river bearing its name and around a mile inland from Falmouth. Penryn is a Cornish placename translating into English as ‘hill spur’ or ‘promontory’ and there have been substantial archaeological finds from as early as Neolithic times in the district. The settlement was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 although there is ample evidence of human activity in the area dating back to the dawn of human history. The town grew in importance and was the home of Glasney College, a Collegiate Church and renowned centre of le ..read more

Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SSWHS) has been given permission to appeal the decision earlier this year by Mr Justice Holgate. He dismissed SSWHS’s application for judicial review of the Government’s decision to approve a highly damaging, £2.5bn road scheme through Stonehenge World Heritage Site, for a second time. UNESCO, five planning inspectors and over 238,000 people are all opposed to National Highways’ highly damaging plans. Save Stonehenge WHS’s legal action had been the only thing stopping the giant earthmovers from entering this 5,000-year-old landscape. John Adams, chair of t ..read more

Myghal Map Serpren continues our look at the church and churchyard of Mabe, near Penryn in Cornwall. The Mediaeval Cross A Mediaeval (1066 to 1539) wheel-headed wayside cross is situated in the churchyard of Saint Laudus just to the left of the South porch of the main church building. This granite monument stands on a modern base and measures approximately three feet three inches in height with the cross head being around one foot three inches in diameter and the shaft a little over a foot in width with an overall thickness of eight inches. The cross was first recorded during the 1890s as bei ..read more

News that HS2 have given their tunnel boring machine an adoptive name, in an unashamed bid to humanize the destructive process, we think readers may welcome the opportunity to name each of the westbound and eastbound tunnels National Highways are seeking to bore at Stonehenge. Where HS2 have named their tunnel boring machine after named after a Nobel Prize-winning chemist, we suggest the Stonehenge tunnel boring machine be named ‘Cameron’s Clanger’, after the Prime Minister who gave the current A303 Scheme the go-ahead. As for the eastbound and westbound tunnels that Cameron’s Clanger will cre ..read more

By Myghal Map Serpren The Parish and Toponymy The village and parish of Mabe lies just to the West of Penryn in Cornwall. St. Laudus Church, Mabe – view from Argal Reservoir The place where the parish church of Mabe now stands overlooking Argal Reservoir was recorded as “de Sancto Laudus” in 1201, translating from the Latin as the “Chapel of Saint Laudus”. However, the settlement also had a name in the Cornish language which was recorded in 1524 as “Lanvabe” which translates into English as “church enclosure of Mab” with Mab being a personal name and possibly that of an earlier Saint. The use ..read more

Helland is situated around three-quarters of a mile South of Mabe in Cornwall. Standing on the wall at the edge of the garden of Helland House and overlooking the minor Brill to Lamanva road, a little granite wheel-headed wayside cross is found. Helland Cross The settlement at Helland was first recorded during 1323 as ‘Hellan’ although it was certainly a place of human occupation for countless years before that. Helland is a Cornish place name derived from the Cornish language ‘hen’ and ‘lann’ so translates into English as ‘old cemetery’ or ‘old religious enclosure’. Lanns are common in Cornwa ..read more

By Myghal Map Serpren This menhir of locally sourced granite standing to a height of just under eight feet has had something of a chequered and indeed controversial recent history. It can be found on farmland set on the South Eastern side of the B3291 road at Eathorne Farm in the Parish of Mabe in Cornwall. The name ‘Eathorne’ merits toponymical consideration. Even the recognised expert in this field, the late Craig Weatherhill found the name baffling and his research established that it was recorded as ‘Eytron’ in 1392 and later ‘Ethron’ in 1417. He suggested that the second syllable notably ..read more

By Myghal Map Serpren Situated in an area abundant in ancient monuments, the Tregiffian Barrow is an entrance grave dating from the later Neolithic Period or earlier Bronze Age (2350BCE to 1501BCE) found at the side of the B3315 road about one and a half miles South East of Saint Buryan in West Cornwall. Tregiffian barrow Forming part of a sacred area containing several burial mounds, menhirs and the Merry Maidens Stone Circle, Tregiffian Barrow originally measured some 40 feet in diameter although a substantial part of the cairn was sadly lost due to road works carried out during the 1840s. A ..read more

By Myghal Map Serpren St Sithney Church The Parish, Village And Toponymy Sithney is a village and parish in West Cornwall between Marazion and Helston and is one of several other hamlets and villages in the parish notably St Johns, Penrose, Mellangoose, Lower Prospidnick, Dowga, Sithney Common, Sithney Green, Coverack, Crown Town also known as Gudna, Lowertown, Chyreen and Lower Tregadjack. Writing in his ‘Wendron and Sithney in 18th Century’ published in 1930, the Reverend Canon Gilbert Hunter Doble MA (b.1880  d.1945), who in addition to being a clergyman was a historical writer and res ..read more