Sperris Quoit facts for kids
 Location in Southwest Cornwall
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| Location | near Zennor and St Ives |
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| Region | Cornwall England |
| Coordinates | 50°11′25″N 5°32′41″W / 50.190227°N 5.544605°W |
| Type | Dolmen |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | extremely ruined |
Sperris Quoit is a very old stone structure in Cornwall, England. It is a type of ancient tomb called a dolmen, which is a burial chamber made from large stones. This special kind of tomb is only found in the West Penwith area.
Sperris Quoit is located on a moor, which is an open, wild area of land. It is about 365 metres northeast of another similar site called Zennor Quoit. You can find it roughly halfway between the villages of Zennor and Amalveor. It is the most northern "quoit" (another name for these stone tombs) in the Penwith peninsula. Today, Sperris Quoit is a Scheduled Monument, which means it is a protected historical site.
What Does "Sperris Quoit" Mean?
The name "Sperris" comes from the Cornish language. In Cornish, "sperris" means a hobgoblin, ghost, or sprite. This suggests people might have thought the place was a bit magical or spooky!
The word "Quoit" comes from an old French word, "coite." It means a large flat stone that sits on top of a "cromlech." A cromlech is another word for an ancient stone tomb. So, "Sperris Quoit" basically means "Ghostly Stone Tomb."
How Old is Sperris Quoit?
Sperris Quoit is incredibly old, more than 4,000 years old! Some experts even think it might be as old as 7,000 years. This means it was built a very long time ago, either in the late Neolithic period (New Stone Age) or even the late Mesolithic period (Middle Stone Age).
This ancient site was in pretty good shape until the early 1800s. However, people later took some of its stones. They used these large stones to help build houses and other structures in the nearby village of Zennor.
Sperris Quoit was "rediscovered" in 1954 by two people named Thomas and Wakes. They carefully dug up parts of the site to learn more about it.
What Does Sperris Quoit Look Like?
Sperris Quoit sits on rough moorland on the side of Zennor Hill. It is about 230 metres (750 feet) above sea level, which is quite high up! It is also close to several natural rocky areas.
The main part of the quoit is about 12 metres (40 feet) wide. During the excavations, five large stones were found. Two of these stones were still standing upright, and three had fallen over. One of the fallen stones has worn down so much that it's just a small stump now.
Because of all the thick plants like bracken and gorse (a thorny bush), it's hard to see much of the site today. You can usually only see one upright stone from the original chamber, which is over 1.5 metres (5 feet) tall. The very top stone, called the capstone, is completely missing.
During the excavations, archaeologists also found a pit where cremated (burned) remains were buried. The entrance to the ancient burial chamber faces south.
