NB.The roads to Carn Euny are typical old Cornish roads, i.e. narrow, winding and at times only room for single traffic with passing places, so please watch your speed.

From Penzance, Carn Euny is signposted at a left hand turning just before Sancreed. Free parking is available at N50 06.023  W005 38.058 although you may wish to give a donation in the box in the carpark. There are two paths to Carn Euny, both shown on an information board in the carpark.

Carn Euny is an example of a Courtyard House Settlement, second only to Chysauster. Courtyard House Settlements are a uniquely West Penwith form of dwelling, which began to appear at the end of the Iron Age (about 500 BC) and continued to be occupied until the 4th-5th centuries AD (Romano-Cornish period). Each consisted of a small, well-built circular or oval enclosure, generally with a single entrance, usually containing a single round dwelling house and a number of outbuildings set around the periphery of an open courtyard. In the case of Carn Euny however, what eventually evolved from an earlier settlement were four interlocking courtyard houses, each containing a large courtyard, with adjoining spaces. Each house would have been roofed with thatch or turf over a timber framework, and the whole 'village' would have been a secure and self-contained unit. The inhabitants worked the surrounding fields, and there is no evidence of any tribal fighting here: the settlement was abandoned peacefully in about the 5th century AD.

Perhaps the most interesting and significant feature of the site is the presence of an underground Fogou & Beehive Hut. Fogous are a unique West Penwith structure. They are always associated with settlements, but in the case of Carn Euny the fogou predates the Settlement, showing that the Settlement grew up around the fogou. 'Fogou' is a Cornish word meaning 'cave.' It consists of a roofed underground tunnel 20m (66ft) in length and over 1.8m (6ft) high. Both ends are now open, though originally both were sealed, and the only way into the fogou would have been by means of a tiny creep passage at the S end which would only have been accessible by crawling down it. The fogou originally had a paved floor with drainage channels. To the N of the fogou and attached to it is a Beehive Hut, a corbelled chamber 4.6m (15ft) in diameter and 2.4m (8ft) high. It is completely below ground level, but there is some doubt as to whether it would originally have been roofed or not. Today an artificial roof that was subsequently grassed over has been placed on it.

The Beehive Hut was constructed with its entrance facing SE, and a recess at the back opposite to the entrance. This 'hut' was thus deliberately aligned to catch the first rays of the rising sun at the Midwinter Solstice, which would have shone directly into the recess, which may have formed some kind of 'altar' to celebrate the rebirth of the sun God/dess. The next phase of building was the fogou, which was sealed at both ends, with access only by the creep passage. The orientation of the fogou (and most other fogous in West Penwith) was now in a NE/SW direction, which means that the northerly end would have received the rays of the rising Midsummer sun. About this time the houses in the Settlement were being built, and the Beehive Hut and Fogou were incorporated into the northern house, so that the house may have served as some kind of ante-chamber or preparation room for entering the Hut and Fogou. It is thought that the purpose was for Ceremony & Ritual.

Information from http://www.cornishancientsites.com

In order to log your find you will need to enter the answer to a question as a password – who discovered the fogou? The answer can be found on an information board at N50 06.175  W005 38.058.