"The light is fading fast as I stand inside Tregeseal stone circle near St Just. The granite stones of the circle are luminous in this sombre landscape, like pale, inquisitive ghosts gathered round to see what we're up to. Above us, a sea of withered bracken and gorse rises to Carn Kenidjack, the sinister rock outcrop that dominates the naked skyline. At night, this moor is said to be frequented by pixies and demons, and sometimes the devil himself rides out in search of lost souls."
"Carolyn's work focuses on the relationship of Cornwall's prehistory with the sky, and she describes the whole Land's End peninsula as an ancient winter solstice landscape. This, she says, is because of the spine of granite that runs south-west along the peninsula, towards the midwinter sunset. If, for example, you stand at winter solstice by Chun Quoit the mushroom-shaped burial chamber high on the moors south of Morvah you will see the sun set over Carn Kenidjack on the south-western horizon."
Tregeseal stone circle sits on moorland beneath Carn Kenidjack with clear views seawards toward the Isles of Scilly. Granite stones on the site create an atmospheric, liminal setting where weather dramatically alters island visibility. Archaeoastronomical interpretation links the Land's End peninsula to midwinter solar alignments because a granite spine runs south-west toward the midwinter sunset. Standing at nearby Chun Quoit at winter solstice produces a sunset over Carn Kenidjack, suggesting intentional Neolithic siting. The circle may have been placed so communities could observe and ritualize the midwinter sun and the perceived otherworldliness of Scilly.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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