Photograph by Eustace Long
On May 2nd the two remaining orthostats were erected at Carwynnen Quoit. We had had over 100 local children on site during the week, learning about archaeology and life in Neolithic Times. One school got to see diggers and JCB's too!
The socket for the first stone of the day was clearly defined. We had been advised to slot it in place using machinery, as levering the 2 tonne stone up by hand would have damaged the carefully excavated socket. It was placed in 40 minutes and the monument was half back together again.
The third stone was not quite as simple. Firstly the original socket had been damaged by burrowing animals so it was not fit for purpose. In the historical photographs the quoit had 2 stones leaning in towards the centre. It was accepted that this may have been a contributing factor to its collapse during the 1966 earthquake.
In order to make it more robust and therefore safer, after discussions with English Heritage, who granted us a license to restore the Scheduled Ancient Monument, it was decided to bring this orthostat nearer to the centre and set all the stones in a more upright position. This proved quite a delicate task, as all three stones needed to eventually meet the original marks on the capstone. A wooden template was fashioned at the capstone, and used to position the stones accurately.
Photograph by Eustace Long
The third stone sat higher in the ground than it had originally, so it was quickly propped with smaller stones and a concrete grout was poured to bed the two stones in. It was a magnificent sight in the landscape, now that the 3 stones were back after 48 years, now awaiting their 10 tonne capstone.
During the next weeks, the mound was tidied, with smaller stones and earth to fill. Eventually grass seed was sown and the stones looked as if they had never moved.
