Online Mapping - Cornwall Council's Mapping Web Site
Mapping Web Site
The recently introduced 'Right to Roam' legislation - long agitated for by the Ramblers Association, and initially opposed by many landowners - has resulted in vast areas of land all over England, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall being opened up to the general public. Essentially these rights are for walkers only - suits me. I used to find the Countryside Agency's Open Access website an immense help in my Cornwall moorland walking, not just on Bodmin Moor but also in West Penwith. Unfortunately the site has been messed around with. Maximum scale is now much smaller and navigation is quite awkward. As a result, it is no longer worth, as a walker, using it in its current CRoW Access form. .
Fortunately, Cornwall Council has an excellent mapping web site, which I find better than the Open Access site ever was. It is easy to use, shows Open Access land, rights of way, path numbers should you wish to report problems, and is zoomable up to large scale.
A word of warning on Open Access land.. I soon discovered that this may not be quite as straightforward as that. I have encountered barbed wire fences, locked gates and even one gate on Bodmin Moor, leading to access land, that has a 'no walkers' sign on it. And, in West Penwith, where moorland is lower, I have found impenetrable furze and bramble. So don't expect it to be easy.
Heading down from Carn Galver, West Penwith
OS Explorer maps now show Open Access land as yellow
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More in Antiquities
Pencarrow Iron Age Hill Fort
When we visited the Pencarrow estate for the snowdrops in February 2004, for the first time we drove in on the main drive. We were amazed to find that the road snaked through ancient earth works, first through an iron age farmstead enclosure, its banks still ten feet high, its outer ditch some four feet deep. Then followed a series of long outer curving banks, looking to us like a possible causewayed camp. All this in the most beautiful beech woodland imaginable. Later we visited Blisland village and lunched at St. Breward's excellent Old Inn. The site is halfway along the main driveway to Pencarrow House. Just follow the signs from Washaway on the A389 Wadebridge to Bodmin road.
Pendeen Vau Fogou
In Cornwall the word is 'fogou', in Scotland 'earth house', in France 'souterrain'. No one has any idea of the purpose of such an underground structure. Guesses include grain store and defensive retreat. Almost certainly not a burial site. I managed to miss both Pendeen Vau and Boscaswell when walking in mid-October 2007 but found both repeating the walk with sister Mary in late October. The fogou is in the farmyard of Pendeen Manor Farm - so ask permission and be prepared to ease your way past the cows and through slurry. It is worth it as you can negotiate the two main chambers easily; the second also has a small entrance. A rough subsidiary chamber has a very low opening and I did not try to enter it. If you want to, someone has helpfully put a board in place that you can crawl along. But beware, it is very muddy and messy so if you do go in, be suitably clothed. There are said to be eleven fogous in Cornwall, all in West Penwith or on the Lizard Peninsula, all dating from the late Iron Age. The most easily accessible one I know is that at Carn Euny, open all year. There is another to be found at Chysauster nearby but English Heritage does not allow access to it. Close to Pendeen Vau fogou is another at Boscaswell, now owned by the National Trust. Some say the best of all is Halligye Fogou on the Trelowarren estate on the Lizard.
Penhallam - ruins of a very early Moated Manor House
This is both a remarkable and a confusing place. Start with confusing. Managers English Heritage call it Penhallam, but a farm a mile away is called Penhallym. Cornwall's Archaeological Heritage calls it Berry Court while the house next to the site is called Bury Court. And, just to add to the confusion, if you use the 1997 OS explorer map you will end up at Penhallym. I think the 2005 version may have it correctly located.