Tresibbet Medieval Hamlets

Overview

Tresibbet was once a small medieval hamlet where families lived and worked during the 1200s and 1300s. The people here were likely farmers, growing crops and keeping animals on the edge of Bodmin Moor. They built their homes and barns from local stone and some of these buildings can still be seen today as low walls and grassy bumps. This little community was part of a much bigger network of farming settlements across the moor during the Middle Ages. Over time, the hamlet was abandoned possibly due to changes in farming, weather, or the Black Death but the remains give us a glimpse into what life was like hundreds of years ago

Tresibbet Medieval Hamlet was part of Cornwall National Landscape’s A Monumental Improvement Project, which aimed to ensure that 40 scheduled monuments across Cornwall National Landscape were better protected, identified and enjoyed by a wider range of people. Between 2022 – 2025, the Project delivered conservation repairs, installed new heritage interpretation signage, ran a range of community volunteering events and developed new website resources. The Project was primarily funded thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with support from our other partners – Cornwall Council, Historic England, The National Trust, Cornwall Heritage Trust and Cornwall Archaeological Society.

Historical Significance

Tresibbet is a rare and well-preserved example of a medieval farming hamlet on Bodmin Moor. The site includes the stone remains of at least four longhouses, typical medieval homes where people and animals shared the same building as well as several smaller structures and walled enclosures. These features help archaeologists understand how rural communities were laid out in the 13th and 14th centuries. The longhouses are built in line with the slope of the land, with entrances facing downhill, a clever design to help keep water out and manage waste. You can still trace the outlines of these buildings and their yards in the grassy landscape, offering a direct connection to the people who once lived and worked here.

The hamlet’s location near prehistoric field systems and Bronze Age remains suggests that this part of the moor has been used and reused for thousands of years. Tresibbet adds an important medieval layer to that long story. Unlike many later settlements, it appears to have been abandoned suddenly and its buildings were never replaced or built over. This makes it especially valuable for research, as the layout and archaeology remain relatively untouched.

The significance of the site lies in its potential to reveal more about how upland Cornwall developed during the medieval period for the average household, compared to coastal or lowland areas. Upland areas such as Bodmin Moor offered less fertile arable land with very little shelter, and were more suitable for pastoral farming, particularly for grazing animals.

While lowland villages developed around a centre, such as a manorial centre, a church or harbour – which supported greater economical specialisation and access to broader trade networks between households, essential for viability. In upland areas, the household was a self contained economic unit with limited surplus production and comparatively little sharing between households. By protecting and studying Tresibbet, we can learn more about medieval Cornish life including farming practices, family structures and how people adapted to the challenges of the sometimes harsh upland environment.