Chysauster Iron Age Village

OS grid ref:- SW 472 350

Inhabited from around 100B.C to the third century A.D. Chysauster Iron Age Village, near Penzance, was probably built by members of the ancient Celtic Dumnonii tribe, who then inhabited the area. The village has nine courtyard houses, with a further house lying just beyond.

All similar in layout, a passage leads from the house entrances to an inner courtyard. Each dwelling has a main chamber with further chambers progressing from it. The roofs were probably composed of thatch and there is some evidence that they once possessed drains.

The purpose of the collapsed fogou, or underground tunnel at Chysauster, is unknown. Traces of the ancient field enclosures of the village's Iron Age inhabitants can still be seen in the surrounding area.