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 height of the rampart through cultivation, the round 530m ESE of Treloskan survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, longevity, trade, agricultural practices, social organisation, territorial significance, domestic arrangements and overall landscape context.
Details
The monument includes a round, situated close to the crest of a south-facing slope, overlooking the valley of an unnamed river leading to Church Cove on the north western Lizard Peninsula. The round survives as a roughly circular platform with a very slight outer rampart bank measuring approximately 100m in diameter. It is surrounded by a largely buried outer ditch. To the west the outer rampart bank is fossilised into an existing field boundary, and elsewhere the platform stands up to 2m above the surrounding ground level. There is an entrance on the east side. The field in which it stands is known as 'Round', and it is possibly the 'Geare Vean' named in leases of 1636-1688. Nine Iron Age pottery sherds were recovered from the round and donated to Helston Museum in 1955.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
CO 784
Legacy System:
RSM - OCN
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