Reasons for Designation
Rounds are small embanked enclosures, one of a range of settlement types dating to between the later Iron Age and the early post-Roman period. Usually circular or oval, they have a single earth and rubble bank and an outer ditch, with one entrance breaking the circuit. Excavations have produced drystone supporting walls within the bank, paved or cobbled entrance ways, post built gate structures, and remains of timber, turf or stone built houses of oval or rectangular plan, often set around the inner edge of the enclosing bank. Other evidence includes hearths, drains, gullies, pits and rubbish middens. Evidence for industrial activities has been recovered from some sites, including small scale metal working and, among the domestic debris, items traded from distant sources. Some rounds are associated with secondary enclosures, either abutting the round as an annexe or forming an additional enclosure. Rounds are viewed primarily as agricultural settlements, the equivalents of farming hamlets. They were replaced by unenclosed settlement types by the 7th century AD. Over 750 rounds are recorded in the British Isles, occurring in areas bordering the Irish Seas, but confined in England to south west Devon and especially Cornwall. Most recorded examples are sited on hillslopes and spurs. Rounds are important as one of the major sources of information on settlement and social organisation of the Iron Age and Roman periods in south west England. Despite reduction in the heights of the earthworks through cultivation, the round with annexe 530m north east of Lower Padreda survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, development, longevity, social organisation, territorial significance, agricultural practices, domestic arrangements and overall landscape context.
Details
The monument includes a round with an annexe, situated on an upper north-facing ridge between two tributaries to the St Germans River. The round survives as a roughly-circular enclosure. It is defined by two low banks with a buried ditch between them which are largely preserved as buried features. It is visible on aerial photographs or as very slight earthworks of up to a maximum of 1.5m high. To the north, the banks diverge slightly. Immediately east of the round is a small annexe defined by a low bank to the north and east and preserved elsewhere as buried features and deposits.
Sources: HER:-
PastScape Monument No:-436632
