Blurs

For more than two decades, a small stone-lined grave on the Isles of Scilly posed an unusual archaeological puzzle. Inside were the possessions of someone who appeared to occupy two very different worlds. There was a sword and shield, objects strongly associated with warfare and traditionally linked to male burials. But there was also a beautifully made bronze mirror, an object much more commonly found in Iron Age graves associated with women. Only one person had been buried there. So who was this mysterious individual? When the grave was discovered on the island of Bryher in 1999, archaeologists could not answer the question. It would take more than 20 years — and a sophisticated scientific technique — to finally reveal the identity of the person buried there. A Discovery in a Cornish Field The discovery happened almost by accident. In 1999, archaeological investigations began after a farmer uncovered an Iron Age sword while working at Hillside Farm on Bryher. The excavation revealed ...

On a remote stretch of Cornwall's southern coast, where the cliffs meet some of the most treacherous waters around Britain, a discovery made by a seven-year-old has opened an unexpected archaeological mystery. In August 2025, a young visitor named Arthur was exploring Lizard Point when he noticed several teeth in the ground. He showed one to Ken Wallace, a National Trust Wildlife Watchpoint volunteer who happened to be a retired dentist. Wallace immediately recognised something unusual. The tooth was human. What followed transformed an ordinary family visit into the beginning of an archaeological investigation. A police cordon was initially established, but the remains were soon confirmed to be historic rather than evidence of a recent death. National Trust archaeologist Jim Parry was brought in to investigate. What he found was considerably more complicated than a single forgotten skeleton. A burial emerging from the cliff The remains were being exposed by erosion from a mound or ...

Deep in the folklore of West Cornwall lies a particularly sinister tale attached to a place that, today, is barely recognisable as anything extraordinary. At Higher Bodinar, near Newbridge between Penzance and St Just, an ancient underground structure known as a fogou was once feared as the dwelling place of a group of grotesque supernatural beings: the spriggans. These were not the playful piskies of Cornish folklore. The spriggans were something considerably darker — ugly, spiteful creatures believed to guard ancient treasures hidden beneath the earth. And at Higher Bodinar, tradition placed them directly beneath the feet of the living. The Giant’s Holt The underground structure at Higher Bodinar was traditionally known as the Giant’s Holt. It was one of Cornwall's fogous — mysterious subterranean chambers generally associated with Iron Age settlements. Fogous remain difficult to interpret with certainty. Suggestions for their purpose have included storage, refuge and ritual acti...

Hidden in the Lamorna Valley of West Cornwall is a monument that seems almost designed for a mystery story. It is narrow, dark and partially underground. Its stone walls were built more than 2,000 years ago, its original purpose remains uncertain, and for generations local folklore claimed that something far less ordinary inhabited its depths. This is Boleigh Fogou, one of Cornwall's enigmatic underground structures. Archaeologists know that it belongs broadly to the Iron Age and that it was associated with an ancient settlement. They can reconstruct much of its construction and history. But one fundamental question remains: Why was it built? And that unanswered question may help explain why the fogou eventually became associated with witches, spirits and the mysterious Cornish bucca-boo. What Is a Fogou? The word fogou derives from the Cornish word for a cave. But these are not simply natural caves. Fogous are deliberately constructed underground passages, usually formed by excava...