Join Dr Olaf Bayer, Senior Archaeological Investigator at Historic England, to learn more about this upcoming archaeological excavation – a project which aims to reveal the secrets of a unique prehistoric ritual site described by experts as “Cornwall’s ancient sacred heart”.

Location: Roche Victory Hall, Social Club, 15 Victoria Road, Roche, St Austell, PL26 8JF – What3Words: ///cobbled.solid.everybody

Price: FREE

This talk will be repeated at two additional venues local to the excavation site during the next few months. Full details to follow.

Located just off the A30 near Bodmin, Castilly Henge is believed to have been built during the late Neolithic period (about 3000 to 2500 BCE). It is a substantial oval earthwork with an external bank and internal ditch, which would have formed an amphitheatre-like setting for gatherings and ritual activities. Its significance continued into the Early Bronze Age (c.2400-1500 BCE) when several high-status burial mounds or barrows were built close by.

Previous researchers have suggested that the site might have been used as a medieval open-air theatre known as a plen-an-gwari and then as a battery during the English Civil War.

The dig is informed by earthwork and geophysical surveys undertaken by Historic England’s Archaeological Investigation Team as part of a previous project in 2022. This found traces of a now-removed possible stone circle in the middle of the henge. Not all henges contain stone circles, and there is only one other known to survive in Cornwall.

The dig will take place in September and October 2025. 

The excavation is being funded by Historic England. Outreach for the project has been made possible by a £42,990 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and a £10,000 grant from Historic England.

Tea, coffee and saffron buns will be served.

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