Collecting quoits: field cultures in the history of Cornish antiquarianism

This paper traces a historical geography of antiquarianism in the English county of Cornwall, paying particular attention to the period from 1750 to 1900 and to research conducted into the region’s ancient stone monuments. The paper argues that from the mid-eighteenth century onwards Cornish antiquarianism was largely a field-based activity. After a short discussion of the work of notable eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century antiquarians the paper focuses on the labours of those in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Differences between the two periods are discussed - these, it is argued, centred around different valuations of place and method - before the anatomy of Victorian antiquarianism’s field culture is mapped out. The paper concludes with a discussion of the place of Cornish antiquarianism in wider networks of intellectual exchange.