IX—Excavations at Chun Castle, in Penwith, Cornwall

Chun, Ch'un, Chyoon, or Chywoon, as it is variously spelt, is the most remarkable of all the Cornish hill-castles. It is tempting to derive the name from the castle itself (Chy-oon, house on the moor), and, if that is legitimate, in Borlase's day, when the inner walls still stood 15 ft. high and more, the name was very apt. The ‘oon’ portion of the name is still present in the adjacent Woon Gumpus Common. Like Trencrom in Lelant, however, the castle probably took its name from the farm on which it stands.