King Arthur’s Hall

Things to do · St Breward

About King Arthur’s Hall

King Arthur's Hall is a prehistoric enclosure on the open moorland of Bodmin Moor, east of St Breward. The name is legendary and the monument is far older than any Arthurian story. It is a large rectangle, about 48 metres by 21 metres inside, surrounded by a broad bank of earth and stone up to two metres high. Granite slabs once lined the inner face of the bank, and 56 of them can still be seen upright, with many more buried, fallen or tilted. The interior is usually wet and marshy. Excavation in 2022 by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit, as part of the Cornwall National Landscape's Monumental Improvement project, dated its construction to the Middle Neolithic, around 5,000 years ago, with possible reuse in the Iron Age. In later centuries it served as a reservoir, sending water by leats to tin streamworks. It is a Scheduled Monument, now protected from cattle damage by a fence. There are no facilities, signs or dedicated parking, and it is reached on foot across rough, often boggy moorland, so it is not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs. Wear boots, keep dogs under control near livestock and avoid walking on the banks.

Good to know

• Free to visit on foot
• No parking, toilets or signs at the site
• Rough, often boggy ground, wear boots
• Keep dogs under control near grazing cattle
• Best for walkers interested in prehistory

Official site: King Arthur's Hall website.