About the Monument

Chapel Porth Chapel is the earthwork remains of a rectangular chapel first listed in 2000. The monument is situated within Section 5 (St Agnes) of Cornwall National Landscape overlooking the Chapel Porth beach.

A 10^th Century date has been suggested for the chapel’s foundation, although there is no actual evidence for this. It is closely associated with the site of a holy well beyond this scheduling, in the bottom of the gully.

Why were the repairs needed?

What work was carried out?

Excavation

• The route of the path through the scheduled area was hand excavated 100mm (mattocks, shovels and trowels)
• Archaeological recording of exposed surfaces including identifying features and site/map drawings.
• Any artefact finds were retrieved and dealt with in accordance with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) guidelines.

Following the excavation, repairs were carried out to the pathway which involved:

• A layer of white sand was place at the bottom of the excavated path to provide an archaeologically distinct layer.
• A Layer of rab (growan)/agreed path material (initially re-using excavated material, supplemented by similar material locally sourced)
• This material was then thoroughly compacted down.
• The camber of the surface was also pitched incrementally to the west to ensure surface water run off does not cause subsequent damage and instead runs down to the valley.
• Following this, locally sourced stone was used to form steps over the exposed northern wall in order to protect it from further erosion.

Unearthed Finds

Whilst excavating, the volunteering team unearthed some exciting finds including possible Medieval pottery and possibly an Early Medieval ridge tile. These finds are now being analysed by finds specialists to determine their authenticity.

What’s Next?

Monitoring is key to the success of the project. Volunteers from the National Trust will continue to monitor the condition of the repaired areas in the future, feeding back any concerns or issues to the Historic England Heritage at Risk Officer.Furthermore, the Monumental Improvement project will be supporting the National Trust to install physical interpretation near the site as well as compiling digital media assets including drone imagery, a 360-degree video and a reconstruction illustration of what the site may have looked like.

All of this will allow future visitors to greater understand the historic importance of the site.

Thank you to all the volunteers involved as well as the National Trust with their support on these works!