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There a number of Quoits in the region of West Cornwall. The term Quoit seems local to Cornwall, similar monuments are known as dolmens or cromlechs elsewhere. These monuments are Neolithic and were originally covered by earthen mounds, which have eroded through time.
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Chun Quiot sits close to Chun Castle, an Iron Age hillfort. This fort commands a very powerful defensive position in open moorland and was very heavily fortified by stone ramparts. On excavation in the 1920's evidence was found of a smelting furnace, showing that tin has been an important Cornish commodity for at least three thousand years.
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Chun Quoit is regarded as one of the finest such monuments, but Lanyon Quoit is just as impressive with its huge capstone. It almost looks like a small giant's table. The fact that it was rebuilt in its present form in the nineteenth century does not diminish its appearance.
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At the time of this rebuilding a collection of jumbled stones was found at the south of where the large mound had been. These were thought to be the remains of an earlier burial. The capstone stands 2m high and is 5m in length.
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