The Ordnance Survey publishes the Explorer series of maps which are
ideal for walkers. Scale 1 : 25 000 2.5 inches to 1 mile / 4cm to 1km. Available in local bookshops or click on the links below to order online.
Much has been written about ghostly hauntings in Cornwall. From The Lands End to the northernmost tip of Cornwall, many Cornish towns and villages have their own particular ghost story which will thrill and enthrall you.
Roche Rock, Roche
Haunted houses; ghost ships and their lost treasure; ancient smugglers; and shadowy lantern carrying figures are just a few of the stories to be told.
On the Land's End peninsula, a short distance from the A
3071 St Just to Penzance road just after its junction with the B 3318 is Carn Kenidjack, the Hooting Cairn. The strangely shaped rock outcrop is visible from the road and a public footpath leads towards it.
It is said that "the spirits of the Celts, possibly the spirits of yet older people, dwell amidst those rocks ..... The dead hold undisputed possession of all around; no ploughshare has dared to invade this sacred spot, and every effort made by modern man to mark his sway is indicated by its ruin".
Carn Kenidjack
Such is the reputation of Carn Kenidjack that people passing near it would rush past it as quickly as possible in quiet sombre mood. Two miners passed by this spot one dark night and though the night was not a windy one, they heard a moaning noise coming from the Carn which arose into a hoot.
They believed they could see lights coming from the cairn and huge dark figures between the rocks. Then suddenly a horseman rode up behind them wearing a black gown and hood, his face partly covered. In fear that he may not see them and drive over them, they called to him and asked where he was going. The mysterious stranger told them he was going to watch the 'wrastling' (wrestling) at he Carn and he invited them to join him.
The men followed drawn by a strange compulsion. On arriving at the Carn they encountered a number of strange figures gathering, who seemed to grow out of the very rocks themselves, men of a huge size with fierce painted faces. Two figures came forward and entered the circle which was to be the wrestling area. To their great consternation of the miners, the mysterious horseman was the devil himself and the wrestlers nothing short of demons.
Carn Kenidjack
As the match progressed the miners were treated to the best wrestling match they had ever seen. Finally, one of the protagonists threw the other hard onto the ground, slamming him down on his back. The devil sat quietly watching the defeated wrestler lie dying and his demon spectators clammered around the victor, hooting and shouting.
The Cornishmen, believing in fair play, were aggrieved by the abandoning of the defeated competitor and moved forward to comfort him as he lay dying, whispering in his ear the solace of a Christian prayer. With the uttering of the prayer, the rocks shook as if struck by a thunderbolt and the night became as black as pitch with a strange rushing sound heard as the devil and all the demons both spectators and wrestlers disappeared. The terrified miners clung to each other in fear, not able to find their way and passed the night praying that they would survive until the daylight.
A tale is told in
St Agnes of Dorcas, a suicide victim, who died by throwing herself into the shaft of Polbreen Mine. The spirit of Dorcas would call to the miners by name and distract them from their work as they answered her persistent calls. While for much of the time this caused a nuisance to the miners, it was not always so and on one occasion Dorcas called a miner away from an area where he was working shortly before a rock fall ensued which would have crushed him to death.
In Polperro the ghost of Willy Willcocks is said to haunt a cave in Chapel Cliff. The fisherman lost his way in the cave and is still unable to find his way out, his ghost still wandering the tunnels of Willy Willcocks Hole.
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Use the + scale on the left of the map to zoom in on an area. Click on a marker to see the name of the location and click the box to go to the information about that place. To zoom out click - on the scale. (Google Map integrated by www.choughmountain.eu)
Peter Underwood 1983 Bossiney Books ISBN 0906456738
Di Francis 1977 James Pike Ltd ISBN 0859321916
