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Distinctiveness Assessment and

Evaluation

Assessor: Adam Sharpe.

Date: 18 April 2017.

Asset / place: Pendeen Fogou.

Step 1: Define the asset

Define the entity that you want to describe the distinctiveness of (this could be a

single asset like a building or monument, or an area like a Conservation Area or

town. Please include a location plan / boundary.

Identify key evidence sources / existing descriptions such as HER / NHLE entries

or other pieces of text describing the asset. Highlight or annotate any sections

that relate to distinctiveness themes.

The extent of the Scheduled Monument covering Pendeen Fogou to the north of Pendeen Manor

Farm.

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Name: Fogou 70m north of Pendeen Manor Farm

List entry Number: 1004295

County: Cornwall

Parish: St. Just

Date first scheduled: 16-Jun-1970

Reasons for Designation

Fogous are underground passages up to 30m long and 2m wide, usually with side

passages and/or chambers. The passages' drystone walls were initially built in a

trench, roofed with flat slabs, and covered by earth. Fogous date to the Iron Age

and continued in use into the Roman period although there is little evidence for

the initial construction of any after the end of the Iron Age. Approximately 12

fogous are known to have surviving remains, their national distribution being

restricted to the far west of Cornwall, in West Penwith and around the upper

Helford River. They are often associated with courtyard house settlements and

with various forms of contemporary settlement sites including rounds and hillforts.

The original functions of fogous are not fully understood; safe refuges, entrances,

storage areas and ritual shrines have been proposed as possibilities, with

particular emphasis on the refuge theory. They form an extremely rare and

distinctive class of monument and are important sources of information on the

unique nature and pattern of settlement that developed during the Iron Age and

Roman periods in south west England. The fogou 70m north of Pendeen Manor

Farm is one of the best preserved in Cornwall and survives particularly well. It will

contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction,

function, longevity, territorial, ritual and social significance, domestic arrangements, agricultural practices and overall landscape context.

Details

The monument includes a fogou, situated on a high coastal ridge, overlooking

Pendeen Watch lighthouse. The fogou, known locally as 'Pendeen Vau', survives as

a roughly Y- shaped subterranean passage, built partly beneath and partly into a

large stone and earth hedge bank. The main passage is constructed from stone-

built side walls roofed with stone lintels. The main passage descends steeply for

7m then levels out and turns slightly before continuing for a further 9.5m to end

with a small hole in the roof. This passage is up to 4.5m wide and 2.5m high. At

the point where the main passage curves, a branching passage to the north has a

tiny portal entrance and the chamber extends about 7m and is up to 1.5m wide

and 1.2m high. This chamber is built entirely from natural 'rab' or granite clay

with no supporting stonework. First recorded by Norden in 1728, the fogou was

examined by Borlase who lived at the nearby Pendeen House. He restored some of

the entrance and added steps which had disappeared by Hencken's time (c. 1932).

Clark and Ford suggested that a wall cupboard within the fogou was not another

'restoration' but an original Iron Age feature.

Sources: HER:- PastScape Monument No: - 421529

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1004295

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'Pendene Vowe, a holl or deepe vaute in the grounde, wherinto the sea floweth at high

water, very farr under the earth: Manie have attempted, but none effected, the search of

the depth of it'.

John Norden's early seventeenth century description of Pendeen Fogou, or Vau, contains

a delicious sense of the mystery associated with this ancient monument. Although it is

now known that Pendeen Fogou is around seventeen meters long, stopping several miles

short of the sea, it remains one of the most enticing of these underground caves, the

purpose of which remains unclear. Pendeen Fogou dates back around three thousand

years, to the late Bronze Age, when it was possibly part of a larger settlement. Many

historians think that there was a cliff castle where Pendeen lighthouse is today and that

the fogou may have been used in conjunction with it as a place to perform ceremonies

and rituals. The name 'Pendeen', translates as 'headland of the castle'.

Pendeen Fougou is set in a hedge in the farmyard of Pendeen Manor Farm, the birthplace

of William Borlase, who is considered the father of Cornish archaeology. After about

seven meters the main passage slopes steeply and the roof slabs are stepped, like the

underside of a staircase. Two smaller passages branch off at the end of the main

passage, whose roof has partially fallen in. There are numerous legends associated with

Pendeen Fogou, many of which focus on a woman in white, whose appearance at the

entrance of the fougou signals imminent death for those who are unfortunate enough to

clap eyes on her. The fougou is near the coast road as it heads out of St Just towards Zennor. It can be visited with permission from the farm owners.

https://www.cornwalls.co.uk/history/sites/pendeen_fogou.htm

A fogou or fougou[citation needed] (pronounced "foo-goo") is an underground, dry-stone

structure found on Iron Age or Romano-British defended settlement sites in Cornwall.

Fogous have similarities with souterrains or earth-houses of northern Europe and

particularly Scotland including the Orkney Islands. Fewer than 15 confirmed fogous have

been found.

Construction

Fogous consist of a buried, usually corbelled stone wall, tapering at the top and capped

by stone slabs. They were mainly constructed by excavating a sloping trench about 5 ft

(1.5 m) wide and 6 ft (1.8 m) deep, lining it with drystone walling as stated, which was

battered inwards and roofed with flat slabs; soil from excavation was heaped on top as

at Pendeen Vau or incorporated in the rampart of the enclosure as at Halliggye Fogou, Trelowarren.[1]

Function

The purpose of a fogou is no longer known. Their central location in settlements and the

work that evidently went into constructing them is indicative of their importance to the

community. It has been conjectured that they were used for religious purposes, as

refuges, or for food storage. Many are oriented south-west-north-east, facing the

prevailing wind.[1] Their use as refuge during raiding trips was first suggested by Darvill

in his book 'Prehistoric Britain' (London: Batsford. 1987, page 177). An argument was

put forward by Kenneth L MacGregor; was that they mainly served as refuges since food

storage is impractical due to the damp conditions and ritual use is unlikely because the Celtic Druid tradition focused more on the living world.[2]

However, being open at both ends, a fogou could provide ideal conditions for food

storage, especially the drying of meat[dubious – discuss] or storage of dairy products such as

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milk, butter and cheese where natural moulds would assist in preservation of perishable

foodstuffs.[3] Ashpits found at Trewardreva and in the circular side-chamber at Carn Euny

were probably for preserving gulls' eggs, as was done on Saint Kilda in Scotland. A layer

of black greasy mould with charcoal, animals and bird bones at Treveneague is also very

suggestive of food storage. Diodorus Siculus stated that Iron Age people in Britain stored

their grain in "underground repositories", adding contemporary evidence[dubious – discuss] to

the speculation that they were mainly used for food storage.[1] Excavated examples at

Halliggye, Carn Euny and Boden suggest fogous may have been deliberately filled after

use or upon abandonment of the associated settlements.

Etymology

The word derives from the Celtic *ifócw, meaning "cave". In the past, locals in Cornwall

have called them "fuggy-holes" but this term is seldom used today.[4]

Tacitus describes the Germans hollowing out underground caves, covering them with

manure and using them as storehouses and refuges from winter frosts. He also claimed

that they hid in their boltholes to escape detection by raiders, which is one function of

the souterrains of Gaul and early medieval Ireland. Fogous may have had a similar

function to the underground kivas of Puebloan peoples.[5]

Other underground structures such as "earth houses" or souterrains have some

similarities with fogous. An example of an excavated souterrain is the site at Rosal,

Strath Naver, Sutherland. In this example no finds were made inside the structure and

the roof may have been only partially covered with stones, a timber roof being present

on part of it. It was suggested that souterrains could have been used as byres or barns.[6] Fogous are often associated with dwellings such as Iron Age villages.

Petrospheres or "stone balls" have been found in souterrains and, as possible symbols of

power within prehistoric society, this discovery suggest a use other than basic storage of food and resources.

Sites

Halliggye Fogou on the Trelowarren estate is generally accepted to be the largest[7] and

best surviving fogou.

Other unspoiled fogous survive at Carn Euny,[8][9] Boleigh near Lamorna,[9] Pendeen[9]

and Trewardreva near Constantine, the last of which is known locally[10] as Pixie's Hall or Piskey Hall.[7]

Partially destroyed fogous exist at Chysauster,[9] which is in the care of English Heritage

and which has been blocked up for safety; at Boden Vean near Manaccan and at Lower Boscaswell[9] close to Pendeen.

Evidence of possible former fogous can be found at Porthmeor;[9] at Higher Bodinar; at

Castallack and at Treveneague.[11] Another was found during rescue excavations at

Penhale Round[12] on the A30, the most easterly example, but this has since been

destroyed.[13]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogou

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Fogous

by Andy Norfolk

“Outside the sun is roaring brassy waves of burning heat. The ground is dried out and

cracked. The streams trickle quietly and modestly. The grass is brown and withered. The

leaves of the trees and bushes are limp and dull with dust. This is Cornwall in high, and I

have to admit unusually dry, summer. Down here it is totally dark, black as a dog's guts.

There is not a spark of light and the air is humid and still. It is completely quiet, except

for the sound of the occasional drip of water beading on the stones all around, and the

sound of my breathing and the thrumming of my pulse. No, I'm not digging a tunnel to

protest against a proposed road. I'm in a fogou, apparently with no-one else about,

except the spiders and maybe a toad, but the spirits often crowd close.

The word ‘fogou’, pronounced foogoo, comes from the Cornish word for a cave. They

have been known in dialect as vugs, vows, foggos, giants holts - and my favourite -

fuggy holes.

A fogou is an archaeological hole in the ground dating from between about 500BCE to

500CE. This means that they really are Celtic, unlike the older standing stones and stone

circles and so their construction could have some connection with the occasional druid.

Fogous are only found in the south western tip of Cornwall - they are not the same as

the souterrains found in Ireland, Scotland and Brittany. They are always found in

association with a settlement or defensive earthwork. There are only 11 definite fogous

left, with a further 26 possible fogous. There are another 25 sites which now regarded as

unlikely to be fogous. Very many of the historically recorded fogous were destroyed a

very long time ago, often it seems because they were a convenient source of building

stone.

The main feature of a fogou is a long roofed passage, which is usually slightly curved,

and is partially or completely underground. The passage is usually about 1.8 to 2m high

and 1.5 to 1.8m wide and 9 to 12m long. The sides are of coursed dry- stone walling

with the largest stones at the tops and the roof is made of large stone slabs. Fogous also

often have low and narrow side passages and there is evidence in some that they could

be sealed off from the outside world. There was only one entrance, usually through a

small "creep" passage, but always through a tiny stone-framed door-way. The original

entrance to Halligye fogou is only 60cms high by 40cms wide. Similar tiny doorways are

often found elsewhere within a fogou. For example giving access to a small cramped side

chamber. There may also be low stones across the passages which can trip the unwary.

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Most archaeologists used to claim, and some still do, that these sites were for refuge,

when the village was under attack, or for storage. Ritual use was usually disregarded.

There is evidence of the use of souterrains as refuges, but these had ventilation holes,

multiple entrances, pitfall traps and various other defensive features. Fogous would

probably always have been relatively obvious structures and thus easy to find. They had

no concealed ventilation shafts, or alternative exits, no traps and would have been death

traps not refuges. Their use for storage is equally implausible because they are damp

inside. With only one entrance there would have been no through-draft and things

quickly go mouldy in misty Cornwall. It would also have been difficult to get anything in

and out of the fogou through the tiny entrances. It makes no sense to me to build a

fairly large space for storage implying you intended to keep a lot goods there and then

only provide an entrance through which it would be difficult to carry objects much larger

than a small sack.

A most important feature is that the main passages of the remaining fogous, not the

entrances, are astronomically aligned. The northern ends of most of these fogous are

aligned to the rising of the midsummer sun although two are aligned to midsummer

sunset. The southern ends of the main passages are mostly aligned to the setting of the

midwinter sun. Some writers have got a bit carried away talking about the rays of the

masculine sun thrusting into the womb-like space of the fogou in the body of the Earth

Goddess. It has also been pointed out that the gentle curve of the main passage could

be regarded as phallic. However, fertilisation of the earth by the sun may have been

purely symbolic, there is no evidence that the sun could actually shine into the fogous

when they were first constructed. Whilst it is possible that there could have been a slot,

like the one at Newgrange, designed to let the light in, there is no archaeological

evidence for this. These alignments also correspond to the direction of the thin lodes of

tin and copper ore in the areas where the fogous are found.

It has been argued eloquently by Ian Cooke in ‘Mother and Son’, his splendid book on

fogous, that they were built as ritual sites. He points out the symbolism of the sun's rays

fertilising the Earth Mother and also suggests that they may have been connected with a

metal cult. This could have been to propitiate the Earth for mining ores or to encourage

the ‘growth’ of more tin and copper lodes, rather than the more usual idea of promoting

the fertility of crops and livestock .

Ronald Hutton says in ‘Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles’ that fogous could not

have been shrines because ‘they are too large to be used for individual worship or vigil

and mostly too narrow for assemblies. They do not seem to resonate impressively, were

not burial places and almost always have ceilings too low to permit human beings to

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stand up’. This is all incorrect. Boleigh Fogou and others are regularly used now for

individual vigils and ritual assemblies. I am over six feet tall and have stood upright in

several fogous with groups of up to 35 other people. They do resonate very well to

chanting at various frequencies and I know from wonderful first hand experience how

impressively the tiny chamber at the end of Halligye Fogou resonates to a didgeridoo.

There are of course plenty of examples of ancient shrines which were never used for

burials.

Fogous appear frequently in Cornish folklore. In some cases they were reputed to be the

haunt of malevolent spirits guarding treasure. People ran from Treveneague Fogou,

convinced they had heard the piskies. Others came out of Pendeen Fogou terrified, but

‘refused to tell the cause of their terror’. The passages were supposed to very long, often

extending miles under land and sea, with many side tunnels. They were the site of secret

gatherings. In one tale Boleigh Fogou is where a coven of witches were seen dancing

with the devil by a squire who had chased a hare for miles underground! But the roof

was supposed to fall and crush you if you stayed in there too long. At Pendeen fogou a

woman dressed all in white appears at the entrance on Christmas morning with a red

rose in her mouth.

There are regular contemporary reports of people having unusual experiences in fogous.

These include, for example, hearing inner voices giving guidance, ‘seeing’ guardian

spirits, female figures, fire, laying out of the dead with flowers, entombment in

preparation for rebirth and a wedding in bright sunlight. One woman went to visit

Boleigh Fogou having heard a lot about it and came away puzzled because she found it

blocked by huge stones - which don't exist. Several people have developed extreme

head- aches, as if a band was being tightened around the skull, with accompanying

dizzyness and an awareness of a spiral energy. Others have felt as if they were in a huge

space extending for miles rather than in a relatively enclosed space. Some visiting

Amerindians told Jo May, who owns Boleigh Fogou, that it was very like a Pueblo Indian

kiva, a ritual chamber. He spent the night there for the first time, at their suggestion,

and reported having seen spirallic filaments of light, a sort of star soup. I have ‘seen’

Halligye Fogou slowly fill up with a milky white light which flowed in between the stones,

(amongst other odd experiences at these sites). A woman sketching at Carn Euny

became aware of a woman watching her - not so unusual? - except that the woman was

one of the original occupants of the Iron-age village.

The case for these wonderful places having been ritual sites is greatly strengthened, in

my opinion, by the sort of experiences I have just described. One other feature of fogous

is that those that have been tested have radiation levels of approximately twice the

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natural background levels - and these can be quite high in Cornwall with all our

radioactive granite. There is some evidence that when we experience variations in

electromagnetic radiation we are directly affected in a way which promotes psychic

experiences. Most of the evidence relates to local variations in the earth's magnetic field

which directly affects the pineal gland. However, the radiation found at sites such as

dolmens, holy wells and fogous is just another part of the electromagnetic spectrum and

might produce similar effects. I don't know if the geomagnetic field at fogous is unusual,

but it may also be a factor in triggering visionary experiences.

Like all other ancient sites they have been affected by past destruction and are still in

danger from misuse and neglect. Some of the fogous appear to have been deliberately

made unusable by the contemporary people at the end of their period of use. Much more

recently English Heritage have provoked hostile reactions by recently filling-in

Chysauster Fogou rather than repairing it. They also roofed over the 4.5m diameter

circular chamber which is attached to Carn Euny Fogou which upset some people. In fact

it has made this feature much more private and weather-proof which has encouraged its

use for rituals. There is an open grating in the centre of the roof which enables fires to

be lit here. Previous excavations beginning with William Copeland Borlase's efforts in

1863 have removed everything of interest from the floor of this feature so the fires

probably do little damage.

The fashion for leaving offerings has lead to all sorts of things being left inside many

fogous, although most of those that I have seen have been just flowers, feathers and

pebbles. These sorts of offerings aren't likely to upset anyone I hope. Because they are

dark places people inevitably use candles. This is perhaps more of a problem, not in this

case because of possible damage to the stones, but because of potential damage to

mosses and lichens which are a beautiful feature of those parts of the passages which

get some light. Halligye Fogou is used as a roost by hibernating Greater Horseshoe Bats

and because of this it is closed over winter. Some ignorant people tear down the

hoardings to get in which probably doesn't help the bats, but has so far done no

significant damage to the original structure.

Pendeen Fogou suffers from being beside a working farm, sometimes cattle slurry ends

up inside. I'm sure this is almost inevitable given its location. Just a fragment remains of

Lower Boscaswell Fogou, which has the distinction of probably having been used by

people from the nudist colony which was nearby in the 1920s. When I saw it in summer

'97 there was evidence that it was being used by someone sleeping rough with the

possibility of it being further damaged by efforts to make it more weather-proof. The

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efforts that we are making in Cornwall to protect our local sacred sites will of course

include the fogous.

Bibliography

• Ian McNeil Cooke, Mother and Son, the Cornish Fogou 1993

• Serena Roney-Dougal, Where Science and Magic Meet 1991

• Cheryl Straffon, Pagan Cornwall, Land of the Goddess 1993 and The Earth Mysteries

Guide to West Penwith 1992

• Cheryl also edits Meyn Mamvro, the Cornish earth mysteries magazine which hasfeatured many articles on fogous.”

https://www.druidry.org//library/fogous

“Fogous appear frequently in Cornish folklore. In some cases they were reputed to be

the haunt of malevolent spirits guarding treasure. People ran from Treveneague Fogou,

convinced they had heard the piskies. Others came out of Pendeen Fogou terrified, but

‘refused to tell the cause of their terror’. The passages were supposed to very long, often

extending miles under land and sea, with many side tunnels. They were the site of secret

gatherings. In one tale Boleigh Fogou is where a coven of witches were seen dancing

with the devil by a squire who had chased a hare for miles underground! But the roof

was supposed to fall and crush you if you stayed in there too long. At Pendeen fogou a

woman dressed all in white appears at the entrance on Christmas morning with a red

rose in her mouth.

There are regular contemporary reports of people having unusual experiences in fogous.

These include, for example, hearing inner voices giving guidance, ‘seeing’ guardian

spirits, female figures, fire, laying out of the dead with flowers, entombment in

preparation for rebirth and a wedding in bright sunlight. One woman went to visit

Boleigh Fogou having heard a lot about it and came away puzzled because she found it

blocked by huge stones - which don't exist. Several people have developed extreme

head- aches,as if a band was being tightened around the skull, with accompanying

dizzyness and an awareness of a spiral energy. Others have felt as if they were in a huge

space extending for miles rather than in a relatively enclosed space. Some visiting

Amerindians told Jo May, who owns Boleigh Fogou, that it was very like a Pueblo Indian

kiva, a ritual chamber. He spent the night there for the first time, at their suggestion,

and reported having seen spirallic filaments of light, a sort of star soup. I have ‘seen’

Halligye Fogou slowly fill up with a milky white light which flowed in between the stones,

(amongst other odd experiences at these sites). A woman sketching at Carn Euny

became aware of a woman watching her - not so unusual? - except that the woman was

one of the original occupants of the Iron-age village.

The case for these wonderful places having been ritual sites is greatly strengthened, in

my opinion, by the sort of experiences I have just described. One other feature of fogous

is that those that have been tested have radiation levels of approximately twice the

natural background levels - and these can be quite high in Cornwall with all our

radioactive granite.

There is some evidence that when we experience variations in electromagnetic radiation

we are directly affected in a way which promotes psychic experiences. Most of the

evidence relates to local variations in the earth's magnetic field which directly affects the

pineal gland. However, the radiation found at sites such as dolmens, holy wells and

fogous is just another part of the electromagnetic spectrum and might produce similar

effects. I don't know if the geomagnetic field at fogous is unusual, but it may also be a

factor in triggering visionary experiences.

Assessment and Evaluation Template v1.1 (DJR) 23/03/17

https://www.druidry.org/

Fogou’s are a peculiar type of ancient monument, unique to Land’s End. Its name

derives from fogo and fócw, meaning ‘Cave’ in Cornish and Celtic languages,

respectively. Fogou’s are thought to date from the late Iron Age – circa 500 BC. Their

primary feature is a curved roof passage leading to an underground hollow, where an

adjoining chamber is reached through what is known as a “creep” passage. Typically the

main passage – not the entrance – is astronomically aligned. Not surprisingly, the

archeological jury is undecided as to the function of the Fogou. Practical theories suggest

they were used for food storage – particularly the drying of meat, and / or provided

shelter from the harsh winter snow and rain, not dissimilar to how Tacitus, the Roman

senator and historian form the end of the 1st century, describes caves built by Germans

for the same purpose. This theory is strengthened by the Greek historian Diodorus

Siculus, who observed that tribes in Iron Age Britain built ‘underground repositories’ to

store their grain. However, Fogou’s are extremely damp and constructed with elaborate

lintels too narrow for normal human activity, leading many to conclude that their

function was more ritualistic than domestic.

The prevailing consensus is that Fogou’s were religious centres built by chieftains for

shamanic rituals and initiations. To this day, those who enter Fogou’s experience

otherworldly images, particularly women, and some Forou’s are used by New Age

communities as re-birthing ritual centers, such as the Boliegh Fogou.

Aileen Fox points out in his 1973 South-West England 3500 BC – AD 600 that most

Fogou’s were constructed facing the prevailing winds. Others have noted that their

orientations favor the rising and setting midwinter sun. Cheryl Straffon argues in her

book, Pagan Cornwall, that Fogou’s were ritualistic centres built in honor of the Mother

Goddess;

“Who by now (Iron Age) may have been identified primarily as an Earth Goddess.”

Earth energy proponent Paul Devereux points out in his book, Power Places that the

radiation levels in Cornwall are abnormally high in general and twice as powerful in

underground chambers, such as Fogou’s. Many believe this fact offers an explanation for

the large number of hallucinogenic experiences that occur in these structures.”

The Fogou of Pendeen Vau © Andrew Gough

BLISS (Lucy Stein & Simon Bayliss) “laid themselves under the powers of hypnotist

Robin Smidowicz within two ancient fogous in West Cornwall. What happened in these

prehistoric subterranean enclosures cannot be fully understood, much less their stories told. Regression is the best account we have.

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Lucy chose to go down into Boleigh fogou near St Buryan for its enchanted aura.

Simon chose Pendeen fogou, piqued as it is with antiquarian notoriety as well as an

unrelenting stench of slurry.

Within the radon-filled granite chambers of these mysterious Iron Age structures, the

artists ventured hypnotically through intense past-life experiences. Visions and

sensations were roused from the subconscious; Stein recognises herself as a bearded

Roman warrior; Bayliss a tired Victorian lady. Boundaries of gender, race and class are

traversed, and, as hypnosis deepened the artists gained visual insights into what happens beyond death.”

http://www.kingsgateworkshops.org.uk/regression

“Fogous’ – deep underground Druid chambers

Fogous’ are enigmatic stone chambers that were designed by the Druids who were the

elite priesthood during the British Iron Age prior to the Roman invasion (Iron Age began

c750 BC-AD 43 Roman Invasion). However, some fogous’ may be far older.

Pendeen Vau fogou - a supernatural earth vault

Close to the Atlantic Ocean, Pendeen Vau fogou lies in Cornwall, which is 17 meters long,

and its usually damp and muddy. The entrance seductively draws you into its hidden

depths. Constructed around 3000 years ago, this inner kingdom summons you away

from the light of day into the darkness of the Underworld. Once inside, you will find

yourself in a bizarre creep-chamber which appears to be cut directly into the earth.

Legends abound, and one states that at the winter solstice a woman dressed in white

shape shifts into a wild and threatening creature. Unconfirmed old traditions also speak

of hidden tunnels and creeps that go for miles under the Atlantic ocean to reach the

Scilly Isles about 26 miles away.

Granite is found throughout Cornwall and a high density of granite would ensure higher

than normal levels of radiation. Intriguingly, The Dragon Project readings noted that

inside the Cornish stone circles radiation levels were mysteriously lower. Unlike the

subterranean Fogous’ which were double the radiation level when compared to the

normal background count. Built in a similar manner to Wilhelm Reich’s orgone

accumulator, the Fogou displays the same layering of organic and inorganic material,

which I have previously written is exactly how Silbury Hill, near Avebury was

constructed. Such structures release orgone energy into the atmosphere irrigating the surrounding landscape adding to its fecund power.

Remarkably, the readings are so alike; it’s as if they are carbon copies, forming a deliberate yet archaic design canon.

Professional dowsing alongside Geiger readings shows that radiation levels are present

at certain sacred sites. Clearly, the knowledge of high and low radiation levels, and more

importantly how to detect them, was known to our Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age

ancestors. The mystery is why they were marking out these zones remains elusive.

I suspect that our forebears were somehow harnessing the radiation. Perhaps they could

make the gamma radiation far safer than we are capable of today?

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Modern day nuclear physicists muse over finding the holy grail of safe nuclear cold fusion

and it is tempting to think that our distant ancestors may have understood and utilised a

similar procedure millennia ago. Whilst much remains uncertain and speculative, we are stepping ever closer to understanding the hidden energies of ancient sites.”

“Fogous (Cornish for ‘cave’) are stone lined and roofed passages, often with additional

chambers and passages, built in the late Iron Age, 500 BC. They are completely

mysterious structures found only in the Land’s End Peninsula in association with

courtyard settlements or enclosed settlements, although it is thought that they predate

these settlements. Some are underground; others are above ground. Explanations as to

their function range from storage, shelter to ritual purposes. They are almost always

aligned to sunset or sunrise at certain times of the year, and research indicates that they may also have an alignment connection with nearby tin lodes.

Carn Euny (o/s 4024 2885)

Boleigh Fogou (o/s 4370 2520)

Lower Boscaswell (o/s 3767 3484)

Chysauster (o/s (4720 3483)

Pendeen (o/s 3837 3553) Porthmeor (o/s 4341 3703)”

“Fogous are a big mystery. They are stone-built tunnels, often curved, between 5m and

20m long, sometimes with a small side-chamber called a 'creep' - at Carn Euny there's a

sizeable chamber off the fogou.

Sometimes they are built as part of an iron age settlement, sometimes not. The big

question is why they were built. Answers range from spiritual initiatory chambers to

storehouses and hideaways, and no one really knows the answer, and there are no

records offering clues.

One line of enquiry that hasn't been explored is that they could involve subtle-energy

technologies such as what parapsychologists successfully experimented with in the

1970s-80s - they could have been used for upgrading seeds, sharpening tools and

preserving foods, amongst other things.

Pendeen Vau fogou

The likelihood is that they had multiple purposes, perhaps for healing, as retreat places,

for invoking the underworld, for oracles and ceremonies or as places to convalesce or die

in peace. Use of such places for cool food storage or keeping beer, or for storing tin or

gold, or for similar purposes, was not as profane as we would nowadays think - all these

things were given by the gods, deserving the best treatment.

There is evidence that the ends of at least some curved fogous are oriented to the rising

and setting points of the sun at summer solstice. This indicates some sort of sacred

purpose, to do with letting light into the darkness. Theories abound, but we still do not

know exactly what fogous were built and used for.”

http://www.ancientpenwith.org/fogous.html

Assessment and Evaluation Template v1.1 (DJR) 23/03/17

Fogous in Cornwall:

Boscaswell, Boden, Boleigh, Halliggye, Carn Euny, Chysauster, Nanjulian, Bosporthennis,

Porthmeor, Trewardreva (Pixie’s Hall), Higher Boddinar (destroyed), Castallack,

Treveneague, Penhale Round???

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Pendeen Manor Farm in 1840, as shown on the St. Just Tithe Map. The fogou is not specifically

identified on this mapping though it is represented by the rectangular feature in the small

enclosure to the immediate north of the farm complex.

Pendeen Manor Farm and Pendeen Fogou (Pendeen Vau) in 1878 as shown on the OS 1st Edition

25” to a mile mapping.

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Pendeen Manor and Fogou in 1908, as shown on the 2nd Edition OS 25” to a mile mapping.

Pendeen Manor in 2005.The fogou can be seen as a rectangular feature immediately to the west

of the large circular slurry tank.

Assessment and Evaluation Template v1.1 (DJR) 23/03/17

Plan and images of Pendeen Fogou.

Assessment and Evaluation Template v1.1 (DJR) 23/03/17

Step 2 : Identify which of the distinctiveness themes relate to the asset

Use the prompts to identify what parts or features of the asset relate to

each theme and why. This might include: materials, design,

associations, function, use and so on.

Physical distinctiveness

As a site type, the distribution of Fogous is restricted to West Penwith and parts of the

Lizard. Thirteen examples have been documented, several of which no longer exist;

many others have been compromised, sometimes by deliberate infilling. Most are

associated with either courtyard houses (whose distribution is confined to West Penwith

(with the exception of one example on Scilly) or with rounds – enclosed late Iron Age to

Romano-settlements which were predominantly (but not exclusively) farmsteads. In

terms of date they appear to have begun to be constructed during the Iron Age, their

use persisting into the Romano-British period, but falling out of use thereafter. Fogous

have been compared to the souterrains found elsewhere in the Irish Sea zone and on in

parts of western Europe, though some commentators feel that they should be

distinguished from them, and they may have served different functions; they are also

somewhat similar in form to the medieval and post-medieval hulls (these being

underground food storage chambers excavated into the rab in some parts of Cornwall)

and with the smaller, shorter ‘crows’ (post-medieval to early modern animal houses

constructed within drystone walls or Cornish hedges, these particularly prevalent in the

mining areas of West Penwith).

Their function(s) remain a matter of debate, and has not been proven through

archaeological investigation. Amongst the suggestions which have been made are food

storage, places of retreat, of the sites of religious or ceremonial activities. They may

have served none of these functions, or combinations of some or all of them.

Almost certainly given of the absence of archaeological evidence, the former use of

fogous is a source of wide-ranging speculation, particularly amongst ‘alternative

archaeologists’ and new-age pagans. Birthing chambers, shrines to the earth goddess,

menstruation rooms, places where those within the settlements above could harness the

powers of naturally-occurring radiation, quasi-Mithraic cult centres, places where tinners

could propitiate the earth gods, meat-curing and storage larders, hideaways from

rampaging invaders – all have been suggested.

Each fogou consists of a stone-lined elongated narrow tunnel approached via an often

low entrance; they often have subsidiary side passages and a secondary entrance

accessed by a ‘creep passage’, and many incorporate small sub-circular chambers. The

majority are wholly underground, excavated into the rab (granitic subsoil), though a

small number (as at Pendeen) were constructed in a cut and cover fashion topped with

coursed masonry and a lintelled or corbelled roof under a soil and stone linear mound,

and are thus partly underground and partly above ground. Lady Aileen Fox noted that

many have potential astronomical alignments, which may be of significance; some

writers have suggested that they share common alignments with local tin lodes – this is

most likely to be fortuitous, however. Paranormal investigators and modern druids have

seized on the fact that those fogous which remain accessible apparently have elevated

levels of radiation within them – but this is likely to result from accumulations of radon

gas in these below-ground, poorly ventilated spaces sited above granite bedrock.

Assessment and Evaluation Template v1.1 (DJR) 23/03/17

Claims have been made for at least one carving at the entrance to a fogou (at Boleigh),

though the interpretation of this (if, indeed, it truly exists) has been contended. The only

fogou to have been partly scientifically excavated is that at Boden Vean on the Lizard –

features associated with this site produced Middle Bronze Age ceramics, a collection of

Late Iron Age pottery and an assemblage of Gwithian style ceramics. This fogou seems

to have been backfilled and made deliberately inaccessible in the post-Roman period.

Economic distinctiveness

Fogous seem to have been a feature of at least a proportion of west Cornwall’s Iron Age

and Romano-British settlement sites, though not necessarily all of them. The reason for

this apparent distinction between settlements which had a fogou and those which did not

is unclear, if it is real – given the potential for such sites to be lost and only discovered

by accident, if at all (as in the case of Boden Vean). The present distribution is therefore

very likely to be significantly incomplete. Furthermore the numbers of known fogous is

so small and (given when they were excavated) the archaeological evidence they have

yielded is so limited that no reliable conclusions can be drawn from them.

Nevertheless, it is possible to say that fogous can be associated with a particular period

in Cornish prehistory and history, and by inference with a particular Cornish ‘Celtic’

culture and possibly also with specific religious beliefs, or at least the versions of these

which were prevalent in the western parts of Cornwall at the time. Fogous are thus likely

to be associate with a period during which people in west Cornwall tended to live in

enclosed (rather than open) settlements, suggesting a particular focus on closely-

related, perhaps extended family based, settlement units. It has been suggested by

some that emergence of such settlements reflects an increased importance of familial

control over land and other resources, of livestock, and perhaps of individual

possessions, prefiguring social developments through the early and later medieval

periods.

Fogous are one intriguing and distinctive, but little understood component of the late

Iron Age and Romano-British settlement landscape and farming economy of west

Cornwall, but may well also be indicators of its culture and religion at the time.

Spiritual folkloric and artistic distinctiveness

If these were not constructed for mundane reasons as larders (they tend to be damp, so

unless used for cheese making or the cultivation of mushrooms they would tend to make

things stored in them mouldy pretty quickly) or as places of refuge in extremis (unlikely

given that they would be death traps with only two easily controlled exits) then it seems

most likely that they served (at least in part) as ceremonial or ritual sites. The form(s)

such ritual or ceremonials might have taken is unknown – the presence of standing or

flowing water seems to have been important within known Iron Age ritual activity, but it

may be that fogous were used by specific groups within IA society – perhaps in relation

to ‘earth mysteries’ and perhaps exclusively by women during key stages of life at the

time. This, however, is unproven speculation, though is a popular interpretation of the

function of these sites by neo-pagans.

Fogous have some folkloric associations, though less than might be expected. Pendeen

Fogou is associated with the legend of a beautiful woman with a rose between her teeth

who appears at the entrance to the fogou on Christmas Day. Anyone brave enough to

Assessment and Evaluation Template v1.1 (DJR) 23/03/17

follow her into the fogou will either never be seen again, or will find that she has been

transformed into a terrifying beast. This legend seems to be a bit of a muddle. The

association with Xmas Day is clearly post-pagan, though may have been transposed

from the winter solstice, perhaps suggesting a former association between these sites

and significant dates in the pre-Christian calendar, maybe linked to the alignments noted

by Aileen Fox. The myths of the beautiful woman who morphs into a fearsome devouring

monster and that of the bold but foolish person who ventures into the underworld in

search of treasure who never returns to daylight (or alternatively who returns to find

that time has passed far more slowly below ground than above ground) are pan-

European. The rose between the teeth motif feels like a fairly recent addition to the

myth. Other tales are told of those who explored fogous and emerged bewildered and

terrified, unable to explain why.

Other alterative beliefs about fogous abound. Neo-pagans mention how they are places

where the earth spirits can be communicated with, this sometimes being facilitated

through the use of plant-based hallucinogens, sometimes by the inhalation of air thick

with radon. Some claim that these are natural orgone accumulators, similar to those

created by Wilhelm Reich from layered mixtures of inorganic and organic materials

during the 20th century; it is posited that they could thus be used for (amongst other

things), helping in the sprouting of seeds, sharpening metal objects, preserving foods

and other diverse activities. Each generation and particularly each counter-culture brings

its own concerns and beliefs to these sites when interpreting them.

Pendeen Vau was also reputed to be far longer than is currently accessible, Norden

reporting in 1584 that ‘the tide flows into the cave, at high water, very far under the

earth’. There are, however, two Pendeen Vaus – the first is the fogou, and the second is

a collapsed sea cave on the coast, clearly the site concerning which Norden was given

this information. A local man apparently reported that he had never explored all the way

the end of the tunnel, and he wouldn’t be surprised if it stretched all the way to the

Scillies. Unfortunately it runs in the wrong direction, and he must have been a cautious

explorer if he truly never got to its end.

Linguistic distinctiveness

The site is known in the Cornish as Pendeen Vau, that is the Vau (hole) at Pendeen (the

castle on the headland). Vau, Vow and Fou are all variations on the second part of the

name, and this persisted into dialect use as ‘fuggy hole’ until comparatively recently. As

noted above, the name Pendeen Vau was also used locally for a collapsed sea cave on

the coast nearby. No trace of a promontory fort is to be found locally, though it has been

suggested that one might have occupied the headland which now sites the lighthouse of

Pendeen Watch.

Natural distinctiveness

Not relevant.

Cultural connections and resonance beyond Cornwall

Although there are superficial parallels between the forms taken by the late prehistoric

souterrains found in Ireland, Scotland and Brittany it is by no means certain that Cornish

fogous were used for the same functions as these features.

Assessment and Evaluation Template v1.1 (DJR) 23/03/17

Step 3: how does the asset’s distinctiveness inform and contribute to

the historic, evidential, aesthetic, and communal heritage values of the

asset?

Please use the tables within the ‘themes’ document to identify the

relationship between the cultural distinctiveness of a place and

established heritage values.

Historic value

Historic value connects contemporary places to past people, events and aspects

of life and can be illustrative or associative

Fogous connect us to some of the activities, and probably also the beliefs, of the people

who lived in west Cornwall during the Iron Age and the Romano-British period. To the

evidence for the essential and workaday – farming, pottery-making, metal-working,

fishing and evidence for social organisation, the rise of individual or group-held property,

and of the potentially elevated degree of friction between neighbouring groups which

could lead to outright hostility, fogous hint at types of ceremony and belief associated

with sites below the ground and away from natural light.

Evidential

The evidential value of a place lies in its potential to provide evidence of past

activity.

Only a small number of fogous exist, or are documented, and their distribution is

restricted to the West Penwith and the Lizard. If these numbers represent something

akin to their original population and spread within Cornwall, they seem to represent a

special site type whose original distribution may have been restricted to sites which were

not solely for settlement, but where specialised additional activities took place, perhaps

ones associated with particular beliefs. They do not appear to be replicate in alternative

forms on other sites of this period which have been archaeologically investigated. Their

presence at a small number of sites and the effort which clearly went into their

construction certainly indicates their former importance. Unfortunately, unless a further

undisturbed example is discovered and carefully investigated in order to attempt to

understand its former use, this will continue to remain a mystery and a source of

speculation.

Aesthetic

The ways in which people draw sensory and intellectual stimulation from a place

through its designed or fortuitous appearance

Many people are fascinated and stimulated by holes in the ground, and especially so if

these are ancient and were apparently constructed in association with some belief, and

some ritual or ceremonial use, particularly where whatever that was is a mystery.

Fogous are, no exception to this.

They are of particular significance to neo-pagans, many of whom see in them indications

of a late prehistoric female-centred mystery cult associated with aspects of women’s

Assessment and Evaluation Template v1.1 (DJR) 23/03/17

lives – specifically birth and menstruation and with communication with earth spirits and

the forces of nature.

Communal

The value of a place through its social and collective meanings and place in

memory – particularly where this value is expressed in terms of

commemoration, symbolism, social identity or spiritual understanding.

Step 4 – Record your conclusions, specifically noting how

distinctiveness should inform any current expression of the site’s

significance and identifying opportunities for this distinctiveness to

inform place making or ongoing management of the place.

Fogous, along with courtyard houses, are elements of a suite of structures which appear

to be distinctive of the later Iron Age and Romano-British periods in the far west of

Cornwall. Their functions remain unknown, though they clearly played an important role

(or perhaps a number of roles) in the lives of those whose settlements they are

incorporated into.

The example at Pendeen is one of the most complete of this small group of enigmatic

below ground structures. It is protected from damage by its status as a Scheduled

Monument, but the current use of the area within which it lies as a farmyard, in

particular an area within which large quantities of cow slurry is stored, negatively

impacts on the appreciation of the significance and distinctiveness of this site. Should

the opportunity arise, the management of the northern part of the farmyard should be

re-organised to eliminate this particular impact. Formalisation of access to the site would

also be advantageous.