Ancient Stones and Lands End

We had a peaceful night tucked into our lay-by and woke to a fabulous sunrise with a panoramic sea view. After breakfast we drove a couple of miles to Zennor where we parked in the car park. We had hoped to see the mermaid carving in the church but unfortunately it was locked.

Moving on we drove to a small parking area where, after parking up, we walked to up the hill to Men-an-Tol. This Bronze Age holed stone is believed to have curative and magical powers. Passing through the hole in certain directions and number of times was said to cure illness.

We returned to Kiki for coffee and then set out again in the opposite direction to climb up to Chun Castle. This Iron Age hill fort sits in a fabulous position on top of a hill. The view from the top is great - you can see both sides of the Penwith peninsula! The fort consists of two concentric stone walls each about 3m high and flanked by an external ditch. Inside you can see the remains of several round houses.

A little further on we came to Chun Quoit. This 5000 year old Neolithic dolmen contains a small burial chamber which would originally have been surrounded by a 10m diameter ring of stones and covered by an earth mound.

We retraced our footsteps back to Kiki for lunch and then headed to Lands End. Reviews on our Park4night app said it was sometimes possible to park overnight in their car park. When we arrived the car park man said that staying overnight wasn’t possible so we moved on. A short distance away, on a quiet road, we found a small lay-by to park in.

We walked down to the coast path which we followed for a couple of miles to Lands End. The path was a bit scary in places because it was very close to the edge and it was quite windy. Arriving at the end we took a few pictures before following the road back to Kiki.

After our evening meal we settled down for the night.