Ring cairn 295m north west of Candra

Reasons for Designation

Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The Moor has been the subject of detailed archaeological survey and is one of the best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes of prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date provide direct evidence for human exploitation of the Moor from the earliest prehistoric period onwards. The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, field systems, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains provides significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time. Ring cairns are ritual monuments comprising a circular bank of stones surrounding a hollow central area. The bank may be kerbed on the inside, and sometimes on the outside as well, with small uprights or boulders. Excavation has revealed the presence of pits, some containing cremation burials, within the central area. Ring cairns are contemporary with other Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC) funerary monuments on the Moor. Although no precise figure is available, current evidence indicates that there are only between 250 and 500 known examples of this monument class nationally. Ring cairns are relatively rare monuments exhibiting considerable variation in form. Despite early partial excavation or robbing, the ring cairn 295m north west of Candra survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, longevity, territorial significance, social organisation, funerary and ritual practices and overall landscape context.

Details

The monument includes a ring cairn, situated on the summit of a ridge known as Treswallock Downs, which forms the watershed between two tributaries to the River Camel. The ring cairn survives as a stony, circular ring bank which measures up to 19.5m in diameter externally and up to 1.5m wide. It is defined on the outer face by a kerb of horizontally-laid slabs and on the inner by a kerb of largely contiguous upright slabs. The central area contains at least six large slabs which may once have formed a vertical inner circle, but are now recumbent. The whole cairn has been subject to partial early excavation or robbing and is best preserved to the south. The cairn abuts a prehistoric coaxial field system boundary bank called a reave.

Sources: HER:- PastScape Monument No:-433217

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

CO 892

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

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