Lyonesse, Lost Island, Myth or Fact?

Saxon Chronicle States Land Connected Cornwall and Scilly Islands

Jun 5, 2009

People on Land's End can look at where the Atlantic waters merge with those of the British Channel, will see in the Scilly Islands thought to be mountains of Lyonesse.

It’s said that fertile land once connected the Scilly Islands with Western Cornwall. The Silures people inhabited this land, Lyonesse or Lethowsow. They were known for their industriousness and devoutness. More than one hundred and forty churches were in the region.

Lyonesse Devastated

The Saxon Chronicle states the Lyonesse was destroyed on November 11, 1099 CE. It’s in the chronicle that, in the year 1099, there was a very high a tide, and the damage was great.

Stow, who wrote about the history of England around 1580 CE, also mentioned the great tide of 1099. This date might be misleading because there are references to the date 1089 or sometime during the 6th Century.

Some say they’ve heard church bells ring when the sea was stormy. There’s a report that an ex-mayor of Wilton, while standing on Land's End, had twice seen domes, spires, towers, and fortifications beneath the sea.

Lyonesse, the Seven Rocks

These boulders are believed to be the submerged city that fishermen call The Town. The remains of a sunken forest can be seen at low tide in Mount’s Bay. Lending credence to this theory is the fact that St. Michael’s Mount, in the bay, has an old Cornish name meaning the"rock in the wood." The locals believe the Isles of Scilly are the mountaintops of Lyonesse.

The remains of many ancient stone buildings, including megalithic structures, can be seen below the waters. There are approximately fifty islands within the Scilly group, although only four are inhabited. They’ve also been identified as the Tin Islands that were known to the Greeks. Geologically they are made from granite that is similar to that of Cornwall.

Archaeology and Lyonesse

Professor Charles Thomas theorizes that, while the islands have been separated from mainland Britain for many years, the depth of water between them is so shallow that three islands are still joined at low astronomical tides.

An ocean fall of thirty-three feet would unite them. Scilly has a drowned landscape illustrated by the existence of causeways linking the islands and submerged stone field boundaries.

Dr. B. P. Horton, postulates that the origin of the legend of Lyonesse might, to a certain degree, stem from ancient folk-memories of Neolithic immigrations to regions around the Cornish coast. He suggests that Plato’s Atlantis disappeared in 9,600 BCE, about the time that the last Ice Age ended and memories of sunken lands are passed down in oral traditions.

Asteroid Impact on Lyonesse?

It's believed a comet smashed into the Earth around 534 CE.There is evidence, supported by tree ring data, that supports the belief that a significant event — like a comet impact — occurred at this point in time, causing unusually low temperatures that lasted for about fifteen to twenty years.

It's postulated that the impact might have been a fragment of Halley’s Comet, which would have been seen in September 530 CE.

Lyonesse Myth or Realty?

Scientific evidence appears to indicate the dry land existed and it’s not mere folklore. Megalithic structures and remains of stone buildings submerged in the waters have been seen, as has a sunken forest. It’s very possible that the Scilly Islands are the mountain tops of Lyonesse. It’s likely fact mixes with legend. This is a captivating mystery of history.

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The copyright of the article Lyonesse, Lost Island, Myth or Fact? in Mysterious Places is owned by Jill Stefko . Permission to republish Lyonesse, Lost Island, Myth or Fact? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.