Tintagel in Cornwall can be considered a ‘great site’ for a number of reasons, depending on personal perspective. For some, the draw is its rich archaeology; for others, its links to King Arthur, or its dramatic coastal settings. Perhaps it is a combination of all of these, alongside the inevitable controversies that come with being one of the most visited historic sites in the UK. It is loved, loathed, and hotly debated: see, for example, considerations of its new bridge in CA 352 (July 2019), its new statue in CA 356 (November 2019), and its Arthurian links in CA 336 (March 2018). It is impossible to ignore. Across these pages, therefore, let me make the case for its greatness primarily on the first of these points: its stunning archaeology. For, as CA 137 (February 1994) makes clear, once one sorts the myth from the reality, what remains is a site of great significance regionally, nationally, and internationally, and one that generations of archaeologists have found joy in exploring.
RADFORD’S RESEARCH
Pages of Current Archaeology, with image of sea view over cliffs.
Current Archaeology’s first formal visit to Tintagel was in 1998, covering the story of the site and the theories about what it could have been used for.
Beginning back in the 1930s, Tintagel’s ‘great site’ status – and its research potential – were first made clear by archaeologist and historian Ralegh Radford, who identified the early medieval (‘Dark Age’) eastern Mediterranean pottery of the 5th to 6th centuries AD that is abundant at Tintagel, having been found here in greater quantity than virtually at any other UK site. Though it is little known today, you can read more on Radford’s work in CA 128 (March 1992) and CA 162 (April 1999).
Radford believed the site to be a monastery, but subsequent researchers have instead hypothesised it to be a royal ceremonial centre, primarily used only for a few months each summer for inaugurations and other key events, such as burials at the nearby church on the mainland. But this position as a high-status or ceremonial site is not why Tintagel most often hits the headlines, even in the pages of Current Archaeology. The site’s first significant mention – and the magazine’s first formal site visit – only occurred inCA 159 (September 1998), when new fieldwork uncovered a carved stone within 6th- to 7th-century deposits which refers to someone named ‘Artognov’: a name close enough to ‘Arthur’ to initiate a media
Helpfully, this visit by CA moves beyond pure speculation to pick up the story begun above – of Radford’s finds of imported pottery that led to the long-standing monastic hypothesis. Two events in the 1980s called this theory into question: first, a fire in the peat that covered the site in 1983 revealed the remains of far more buildings than were previously known; this was followed by renewed research into the pottery (long housed in the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro) demonstrating that not only was there more imported pottery of this age here than from any other site in Britain, but indeed more pottery than from all the other sites known at that time put together.
Pages of CA 227 with images of cliffs, greyscale diagram of Tintagel
CA 227 provided an updated report of Tintagel, which considered the site in its wider context following the publication of a report of the finding of excavations that took place in the 1990s.
These two events led the site’s custodians, English Heritage, to commission new fieldwork to understand it properly, leading to the discovery reported in CA 159. CA 227 (February 2009) followed up on this fieldwork with a detailed report a decade later, re-examining the site in its wider context and re-evaluating it as a potential centre of ‘Dark Age’ political and military power.
RECENT REVELATIONS
Finds from Tintagel have also featured in the magazine more recently. CA 319 (October 2016) and CA 330 (September 2017) reported on new fieldwork and finds thanks to a five year research programme initiated at this time by English Heritage and led by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit. This work revealed new evidence for the lives of people here, uncovering their domestic arrangements in substantial stone-walled structures, as well as turning up more of the famous pottery fragments. A follow-up on this work then featured in CA 342 (September 2018), when a second new inscription was identified on a two-foot-long section of Cornish slate used as a window ledge. It was etched with an eclectic mix of Latin writing, Greek letters, and Christian symbols. The lettering style and the language used, as well as the Christian symbols, suggest Mediterranean influences and contacts, further evidence for early medieval Tintagel being an unusually well-connected, high-status site.
POTTERY ON TOUR
Focusing specifically on the pottery, what is especially interesting in Current Archaeology’s coverage are reports from other sites with which Tintagel shares links through this highly recognisable ceramic material.
Article from CA 178 with beach image.
CA178 took a trip to Bantham, South Devon, to look at finds including 570 sherds of imported Mediterranean pottery, the second-largest assemblage of these on any UK site, with Tintagel taking first place.
CA 178 (March 2002), for example, visited Bantham in South Devon, another 5th- to 6th-century site from which this pottery has been identified. It is the second-largest single agglomeration of such finds in the UK after Tintagel. The pottery was sourced from a range of sites including in modern-day northern Greece, eastern Turkey and Syria, and north Africa. Alongside these finds are other ‘high status’ materials identified at both sites, especially evidence of feasting from middens full of cattle, pig, sheep, goat, deer, hare, rabbit, chicken, duck, and shellfish. CA 220 (July 2008) visited Gwithian in north Cornwall, when the 1950s fieldwork led here by Charles Thomas was being prepared for publication. Again, the imported eastern Mediterranean pottery is the star find here, which in the 1950s was emerging from the eroding coastal cliff in large quantities. Thomas’ principal interest was the ‘Dark Age’ history of a major industrial settlement of the 5th to 8th centuries focused on metalworking, but fieldwork across the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s identified a host of finds spanning the Mesolithic to the post-medieval.
Most recently, CA 409 (April 2024) visited Fonmon Castle near Cardiff in South Wales. While the castle primarily dates from the 12th century onwards, fieldwork there in 2021 identified a large cemetery dating to the 6th to 7th centuries. While no grave goods were found, the grave fills included a large amount of contemporary material, notably including fragments of imported glass vessels (most likely from modern day Spain) identical to those found at Tintagel. These finds appear at Dinas Powys in the Vale of Glamorgan, nine miles from the site, suggesting international links across the wider Severn Estuary.
Article in CA220 on Gwithian, with black and white aerial images of fields.
A visit to Gwithian, north Cornwall, in CA 220 discussed the imported pottery being produced from the cliffs, comparable to the examples found at Tintagel.
CA 417 (December 2024) then brought thinking on this topic right up to date, reflecting on the overall impact of the Silk Roads on early medieval Britain and Ireland, an international, intergenerational web of connections in which Tintagel was undoubtedly a key node. As I said in my introduction, what the archaeological record thus demonstrates is that, once one sorts the myth from the reality, what remains is a site of unquestioned greatness, a truth much to be celebrated. Tintagel is in the care of English Heritage and is normally open to the public, but please check the website before visiting: www.english heritage.org.uk/visit/places/tintagelcastle. The site’s scheduled monument entry is: https:// historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1014793.
About the author
Joe Flatman completed a PhD in medieval archaeology at the University of Southampton in 2003, and since then has held positions in universities, and local and – most recently – central government. Since March 2019, he has been a Consultancy Manager in the National Trust’s London and South-East Region, leading a team working on Trust sites across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. You can follow him on X: @joeflatman