24 June 2014
Carwynnen Quoit rebuild completed
Work to rebuild a collapsed ancient Cornish monument has been completed on the day of the summer solstice. Carwynnen Quoit, or Giant's Quoit, a 5,000-year-old burial chamber near Troon (west Cornwall, England), collapsed in 1966. The burial chamber had fallen apart but, with help from archaeologists, it is standing proud once again.
Replacing the capstone was the last piece of work carried out by owners the Sustainable Trust, which bought the site in 2009. Leading architect on the project, Jacky Nowakowski said: "It's a magical moment to get to this stage in the project. I feel exhilarated to bring the capstone home and make the monument complete again. A lot of people have come together to bring an ancient monument back to life, so today's a real celebration of that amazing achievement."
The Cornwall Sustainable Trust and Cornwall Heritage Trust employed professional archaeologists to help research and rebuild it. Initial work saw two support stones replaced in their original Neolithic footings but the third stone had to be adjusted to comply with health and safety regulations. The main capstone measuring 3.3m (11ft) long, 2.5m (8ft) wide and 30cm (1ft) thick was dropped into position by a large crane.
Edited from BBC News (21 June 2014)
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