[mjp]

Tintagel, a rugged coastal site in Cornwall, England, is famously linked to Arthurian legend as his birthplace, primarily through Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1136). Geoffrey claimed Arthur was conceived at Tintagel Castle when Uther Pendragon, magically disguised as Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, slept with Igraine.

The nearest tin mines to Tintagel were likely on Bodmin Moor, about 20–30 miles away, depending on the route. Major tin mining areas in west Cornwall, like St Just, were farther, around 50–70 miles.

[SunkenCiv]

The age and significance of the medieval ruin at Tintagel were said to rule out any connection with the immediate post-Roman Britons, or much of anything else.

Then, in the 1980s, after a serious drought, a grass fire got started that burned so intensely the covering layer was destroyed revealing the ruins of over 200 buildings. The gov’t archaeologist assigned to the site was amazed. :^)