Sancreed Beacon is a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

archaeological site near the village of

Sancreed Sancreed (''Cornish: Eglossankres'') is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, approximately three miles (5 km) west of Penzance. Sancreed civil parish encompasses the settlements of Bejouans, Bosvennen, Botreah, Drift, Sanc ...

in the

Penwith Penwith (; kw, Pennwydh) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after one ...

peninsula of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

maintained by the

Cornwall Heritage Trust The Cornwall Heritage Trust (CHT) is an organisation which owns and manages historic sites in Cornwall, UK. It was founded in 1985. List of managed sites The Trust owns and manages a number of sites:cists A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle Ea ...

and Bronze Age archaeological remains comprising burial mounds and the remains of a Bronze Age hut on the Western slope. This site can be taken in the context of a rich variety of archaeological evidence in the vicinity from the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

and dating as far back as

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...

times including

Carn Euny Carn Euny (from kw, Karn Uni)Place-names in the Standard Written Form (SWF)

Iron Age village 1 mile to the southwest,

Caer Bran Caer Bran Hill Fort is an archaeological site near Sancreed and Carn Euny Iron Age village, on the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall. Site It is a popular location for walkers and antiquarians because it commands a stunning 360 degree panorama of th ...

Hill Fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post- ...

half a mile southwest,

Holy Well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

to the southeast, and

Bartinney Castle Bartinney Castle is an Iron Age enclosure located in the Penwith Peninsula of Southwest Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, it is surrounded by a circular earthwork standing on a hill surrounded by various archaeological prehistoric remains, incl ...

to the west about 1 mile.

Mining

Long linear earthworks between 10 and 16 metre wide, covering 3 hectares are the remains of medieval (or later) opencast tin workings. An 8-metre diameter shaft was also found in an archaeological field survey in 1985. Wheal Argus worked the old lodes between 1873 and 1875 raising 20 ton of black tin. The

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...

1:2500 map of 1875 shows the disused engine house of Wheal Argus along with four shafts, a windlass and smithy. By April 1885 the engine of Sancreed Beacon mine, which according to

The Cornishman ''The Cornishman'' is a weekly newspaper based in Penzance, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom which was first published on 18 July 1878. Circulation for the first two editions was 4,000. An edition is currently printed every Thursday. In early Fe ...

newspaper had been unused for many years and was being transferred to the East Blue Hills Mine at St Agnes. The 1908 Ordnance Survey map refers to the mine as Beacon Hill Mine, showing the position of four shafts but the mine buildings have disappeared.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Cornwall History of Cornwall Iron Age sites in Cornwall Mining in Cornwall Penwith Prehistoric sites in Cornwall