Prideaux Castle is a multivallate

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

situated atop a 133 m (435 ft) high conical hill near the southern boundary of the parish of

Luxulyan Luxulyan (; ), also spelt Luxullian or Luxulian, is a village and civil parish in mid Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village lies four miles (6.5 km) northeast of St Austell and six miles (10 km) south of Bodmin. The population ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is also sometimes referred to as ''Prideaux Warren'', ''Prideaux War-Ring'', or ''Prideaux Hillfort''. The site is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

and so protected from unauthorised works by the

Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 (c. 46) or AMAAA was a law passed by the UK government, the latest in a series of Ancient Monument Acts legislating to protect the archaeological heritage of England and Wales, and Scotlan ...

Physical description

The remains of the first and second

circular rampart A circular rampart () is an embankment built in the shape of a circle that was used as part of the defences for a military fortification, hill fort or refuge, or was built for religious purposes or as a place of gathering. The period during which ...

s are quite distinct, although overgrown with trees on the north and east sides. They appear to be constructed of earth and rubble. The third rampart is only fragmentarily represented, but easily traced, due to the vegetation. A fourth, outermost wall is discerned on aerial photographs,Aerial Photo of Prideaux Castle
/ref> or on the 1888 Ordnance Survey map.Grid Ref: 205948,55622
. This outermost wall is in the form of an incomplete "D" shape, extending to the west and south on the downhill slope of the site. There are two entrances, typical of the small hillfort,
located on the eastern and northern side (i.e., opposite the fourth wall), where it is most wooded. There is no evidence of dressed stones. The

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

and any internal structures would have been of wooden construction and must have perished without trace. The enclosed area is level and described from the ground as being somewhat elliptical, although from aerial photographs it appears nearly circular. Its diameter is about 100 m, with an area of about 0.8 ha. Its present use is as a cattle pasture, with a frangible, pinkish stone (possibly

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

) forming the substrate. Its condition is slowly deteriorating, with less structure now visible than was shown on the 1888 survey map. The northern and eastern ramparts are overgrown with trees, merging into forest. In the vicinity, there is much evidence of mining for

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

and

kaolinite Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina () ...

, with

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...

, pits,

shafts ''Shafts'' was an English feminist magazine produced by Margaret Sibthorp from 1892 until 1899. Initially published weekly and priced at one penny, its themes included votes for women, women's education, and radical attitudes towards vivisection ...

and dumps in abundance. The word

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

has long been employed colloquially to designate

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

remains of this general type throughout

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. Prideaux Castle has also been known as Prideaux Warren. Adjacent to the fort are two extents of forest, one named "Prideaux Woods," the other "Warren Woods." Even after centuries of deforestation these join to another forest, "North Slope Woods," covering the south side of Luxulyan Valley. Some of this forestation has been backfilled during recent periods; other parts are known to be ancient.

Prideaux Wood (SX0655) near St Blazey is the site of a disused quarry. Around a quarter of this woodland is of ancient origin; the remainder being coniferous and planted in the 1960s. The conifers are gradually being removed, with care being taken not to disturb the numerous greater horseshoe bat colonies which roost here.

Etymology

Cornish etymology

Most of the authoritiesR. M. Prideaux, "Prideaux: A Westcountry Clan". agree that the earliest form of the name was something like , and that the name is of Cornish origin. The first documented appearance of the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

spelling Prideaux did not appear until

Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet ( /plænˈtædʒənət/ ''plan-TAJ-ə-nət'') was a royal house which originated from the French county of Anjou. The name Plantagenet is used by modern historians to identify four distinct royal houses: the Angev ...

times. For at least the past several centuries the name has been in Cornwall and

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. The final is a

spelling pronunciation A spelling pronunciation is the pronunciation of a word according to its spelling when this differs from a longstanding standard or traditional pronunciation. Words that are spelled with letters that were never pronounced or that were not pronoun ...

of the ''x'' in the French orthography. A derivation from Cornish ''bre'' "hill" + Cornish ''dinas'' "castle; fort" → *''bredinas'' may be suggested. A development from this otherwise plausible form would have to account for the initial devoicing, as well as the loss of the nasal.

"Near the waters"

Several fanciful etymologies have been proposed, based on the assumption of French origin. For example, the 18th century Cornish historian

Thomas Tonkin Thomas Tonkin (1678–1742) was a Cornish landowner and historian. Early life He was born at Trevaunance, St Agnes, Cornwall, and baptised in its parish church on 26 September 1678, was the eldest son of Hugh Tonkin (1652–1711), vice-warden o ...

derived it from the French phrase ''près d'eaux'' "near hewaters": This etymology is somewhat implausible for a hilly location at an elevation of some 135 metres located several kilometres from the sea.

Prehistory

Bronze Age

The earliest occupation in the vicinity of the site dates from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. Cornwall has functioned continuously since high antiquity as a centre of

mining and trade, tin being an essential ingredient of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

. The fort is situated not far from the ancient trade route which later became known as the

Saints' Way The Saints' Way () is a long-distance footpath in mid Cornwall in the United Kingdom that connects the coastal towns of Padstow and Fowey. The Saints' Way follows a possible reconstructed route taken by early traders and Christian travellers ...

; from here tin was traded as far as the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

. The central role of

tin mining Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. History Tin extraction and use ca ...

in the local economy seem to have a continuity leading up to the stannary "Pridias",The original

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh language, Welsh and Breton language, Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, ...

form of "Prideaux" which in later times was one of the "

tithings A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or s ...

" (administrative districts) of the Blackmoor Stannary, centered at nearby

Hensbarrow Beacon Hensbarrow Beacon is a hill in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated a mile north-west of Stenalees village at . It is the highest natural point of the Hensbarrow uplands, a natural region and national character area. The natural ...

, with its records stored at the church in

Iron Age

Without datable artifacts, the hillfort is nonetheless assigned to the

of pre-

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caes ...

on the basis of its general form. Because the enclosed area is less than 1 ha, it would be classified as a "small

multivallate Hillforts in Britain refers to the various hillforts within the island of Great Britain. Although the earliest such constructs fitting this description come from the Neolithic British Isles, with a few also dating to later Bronze Age Britain, Briti ...

hillfort", resembling most others of that type. There is no physical evidence that any structure was ever built upon the site subsequent to the Iron Age.

History

Domesday

There are at the present time three inhabited places arranged in an arc or line a few hundred metres to the north of the Castle. On the 1888 map they are called "Prideaux," "Little Prideaux," and "Great Prideaux." The

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 mentions nothing that could be identified by name with either Luxulyan or Prideaux (Pridias). The nearest manor to Prideaux Castle listed is

Tywardreath Tywardreath (; , meaning "House on the Beach" (or Strand)) is a small hilltop village on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, about north west of Fowey. It is located in a sheltered spot overlooking a silted-up estuary opposite ...

(Tiwardrai), about 1.5 km to the southeast. Next nearest would have been

Bodiggo Bodiggo is a hamlet in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated half-a-mile north of Luxulyan (where the 2011 Census population is included), five miles (8 km) north-east of St Austell Saint Austell (, ; ) is a town in Cornwal ...

(Bodenwitghi) at about 2.5 km. Both of these manors are recorded as held by Richard Fitz Thorold from

Robert, Count of Mortain Robert, Count of Mortain, first Earl of Cornwall of 2nd creation (–) was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother (on their mother's side) of King William the Conqueror. He was one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at t ...

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

's half brother.

Pridis (Prideaux) stannary tithing

The economy of Prideaux may have been based in part on the

stannary A stannary was an administrative division established under stannary law in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin coinage, which was the duty payable on the metal tin smelted from cassiterite ore Mining in Co ...

. Britain, specifically

was famous for

, a key ingredient of

and thus an important trade item during the

. In 1201

King John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

chartered four

stannaries A stannary was an administrative division established under stannary law in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin coinage, which was the duty payable on the metal tin smelted from cassiterite ore mined in th ...

in Cornwall: Foweymoor (Bodmin Moor), Blackmoor (

Hensbarrow Hensbarrow is a natural region in the county of Cornwall, England, UK, that has been recognized as National Character Area 154 by Natural England. Hensbarrow is an upland region covering an area of just under 12,000 hectares immediately north of ...

downs near Saint Austell), Tywarnhaile (Truro to Saint Agnes) and Penwith-with-Kerrier. Blackmoor was the oldest

, with eight subdivisions called

. ''Pridis'' (which is near the Cornish original of ''Prideaux'') is listed as one of the eight tithings of the Blackmoor stannary.

References

Bibliography

*Bartlett, J. 1856. "The History of St Blazey: a lecture"
Online; accessed 2006-06-30.
* Maclean, Sir John. 1873. ''The Parochial and Family History of the Deanery of Trigg Minor in the County of Cornwall.'' Bodmin: Liddell & Son. *Pearce, Rob. 990? "Luxulyan Church and the Stannaries".
Online; accessed 2006-06-27
*Polsue, Joseph. 1867–1872. ''Parochial History of Cornwall'', vols 1—4. Truro: W. Lake, * Polwhele, Richard (1760–1838), ''The History of Devonshire'' (3 vols. 1797–1806, reprinted 1977 by Kohler and Coombes, Dorking, 1977). *Prideaux, R yM. 1989. ''Prideaux: a Westcountry clan.'' Chichester: Phillimore & Co. . *Rowe, John. 990?"A Short History of Luxulyan Parish and The Parish Church of St. Cyriac and St. Julitta".
Online; accessed 2006-06-27

External links

Images of "Prideaux Hillfort"
*{{gbmapping, cap=1, SX 0592 5567
1888 OS Map of Prideaux Castle Grid Ref: 205948,55622Aerial Photo of Prideaux Castle
Hill forts in Cornwall Iron Age sites in Cornwall Military history of Cornwall