Trencrom Hill (or Trecrobben) is a prominent hill fort, owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

, near Lelant, Cornwall. It is crowned by an univallate

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

tor enclosure and was re-used as a

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 ...

in the

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 ...

Cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

s or hut circles can be seen in the level area enclosed by the stone and earth banks. The hill overlooks the Hayle Estuary and river, and Mount's Bay and

St Michael's Mount St Michael's Mount (, meaning "Hoarfrost, hoar rock in woodland") is a tidal island in Mount's Bay near Penzance, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The island is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion ...

can be seen to the south. The hill was recorded as Torcrobm in 1758 which is derived from Cornish "torr crobm", i.e. 'hunched bulge'.

Trink Trink Hill is a 212-metre-high hill that lies between the hamlets of Trink and Cripplesease, near to the village of Nancledra, Cornwall, UK. Trencrom Hill lies one kilometre to the South East. Location (), Landranger Map Number: 203 Latitude: 5 ...

lies one kilometre to the north west.

National Trust

Trencrom Hill was acquired by the National Trust as freehold on 8 August 1946 from Lieutenant Colonel G L Tyringham. The freehold was . On ascending the hill from the north side there is a plaque in situ in the rock facing the path. It reads: "This property was presented to the National Trust by Lt Col C L Tyringham, of Trevethoe in March 1946 & at his wish is to be regarded as a memorial to the men and women of Cornwall, who gave their lives in the service of their country during the two world wars. 1914 – 1918, 1939 – 1945" The well on the west side of the ramparts of the hill fort is known as the Giant's Well. James Halliwell-Phillipps mentioned it in 1861 in ''Rambles in Western Cornwall'', "Outside the vallum at Trecrobben, or, as it is called by the rustics, Trancrom, is the Giant's Well". The well low down on the eastern flank of the hill is not the Giant's Well and is a disused shaft of the Praed Consols (Wheal Cherry/New Trencrom) sett, which was used as a well after the mine had flooded.

Mining

View northwest from Trencrom Hill - geograph

The sett (area) of Wheal Cherry (later known as New Trencrom Mine and Mount Lane Mine) included the summit of Trencrom Hill. Trencrom is within the

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and the sett also covered the metamorphosed killas to the east. Wheal Cherry seems to have been short-lived with £2,293 spent on the erection of a 24-inch pumping engine and 24 inch whim with stamps in 1857/58 and by September 1858 the sett and materials being offered for sale. The sale notice stated that Wheal Cherry was ″a valuable property″. There was another attempt at the start of the 20th century by the Gerry Brothers of Lelant and after five years they sold their interest in 1907. At this time a new shaft was being sunk on the eastern slope and at a depth of found a wide lode which yielded of black tin to the ton. Work was still continuing on Wheal Cherry in 1916. A further attempt in 1943 at the mine, now known as the Mount Lane Mine was unsuccessful. A survey in January 1996 found small scale quarrying, mostly post-medieval using drills but in some cases using wedges which may be earlier. Large parts of the granite summit have been levelled and a paved track was probably used to transport stone from the quarry face on carts.

Mythology

Trecobben, the giant of Trencrom, was supposed to have killed Cormelian (wife of

Cormoran Cormoran ( or ) is a giant associated with St. Michael's Mount in the folklore of Cornwall. Local tradition credits him with creating the island, in some versions with the aid of his wife Cormelian, and using it as a base to raid cattle from th ...

) by throwing a hammer across to

References

External links

{{coord, 50.1736, -5.4776, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Hill forts in Cornwall National Trust properties in Cornwall Penwith Stone Age sites in Cornwall Neolithic England