Iron Age or Romano-British Round, 660m west of Helford

Summary

The below and partial above-ground remains of an Iron Age or Romano-British round, preserved by curving field boundaries to its north and west.

Reasons for Designation

An Iron Age or Romano-British round, 660m west of Helford, Cornwall is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Period: as an important source of information about the pattern of settlement during the Iron Age and Romano-British periods in south-west England;
* Rarity: as a distinctive class of monument, restricted to the south-west and particularly Cornwall;
* Survival: despite the loss of the east and south ramparts through ploughing, the shape of the round is fossilised in the field boundaries to the north and west;
* Potential: the ground below the north and west ramparts is likely to contain deposits which may provide further information about the use and date of the round.

History

The later Bronze Age was a period of transition from the simple agricultural regimes of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age to the settled and intensive exploitation that characterises Iron Age and Roman Britain. During the Iron Age (800 BC – AD 43) the number and range of settlements increased substantially. A round is a type of habitation site which was widespread in Devon and Cornwall before the first century BC, although some examples have been dated to the fourth century AD. They no longer functioned as settlements after the sixth century AD and were replaced by unenclosed settlement types by the seventh century AD. A round is an embanked univallate enclosure usually circular or oval in form, although a few are sub-rectangular or triangular, with an external ditch and single entrance. They seldom exceed a hectare in extent. Rounds are generally interpreted as having an agricultural function rather than a defensive one, although whether all examples were settlements is open to debate; some may have served as stock-pounds or storage areas. 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, where many more examples may await discovery. Most recorded examples are sited on hillslopes and spurs. Excavated examples, such as Trevisker on the north coast of Cornwall, indicate that they were occupied internally with roundhouses set close to the inner face of the bank or other structures such as fogous. Other evidence includes drystone supporting walls within the bank, paved or cobbled entrance ways, post-built gate structures, 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.

Approximately 660m to the west of the riverside hamlet of Helford lies the below and partial above-ground remains of a round. Approximately 800m to its south is Kestle Barton; the name Kestle derives from the plural, in Cornish, of the word ‘castell’, ‘kestell’, meaning hamlet, but also possibly fort. The earliest known reference to the round was made in 1844 when Richard Thomas recorded it on a map, and then in 1851 mentioned it in a letter to the West Briton newspaper, as part of a series of notes about ancient sites in Cornwall. He described the round as lying about half a mile north of Kestle and being a circular fort of about four acres. In 1914, as part of his recordings of parochial antiquities in Cornwall, Charles Henderson described the round as an oval ramp of earth, 6m thick, with remains used as a hedge on the north and west sides, the north bank being massive with a wall on top, but the remainder ploughed down. He continued that the interior was levelled into the slope with the north side 1.5m above ground level. His dimensions were 42.6m east to west, and 91.4m north to south. In 1965 Dowson recorded it in a checklist of sites for Manaccan parish, noting extant remains.

The round is not recorded on any historic Ordnance Survey map, although the curving field boundary on its north and west side marks its location. In 1971 the Ordnance Survey surveyor found no physical traces of earthworks, nor anything clear on aerial photographs, but surmised that the curving hedges were sufficient evidence for a round at this location. The east and south sides of the round are faintly visible on a 1946 RAF aerial photograph. The round was plotted by the National Mapping Programme in the 1990s. No evidence of the round, apart from the hedge banks, is visible on 1m LIDAR modelling. There is no clear evidence of a ditch or entrance from any source.

The round is located within an agricultural field which has been used for pasture, but more regularly for arable and has been ploughed since at least the beginning of the C20. The track around the west side of the round forms part of a permissive route to Frenchman’s Creek.

Details

SUMMARY OF ASSET
The below and partial above-ground remains of an Iron Age or Romano-British round, preserved by curving field boundaries to its north and west.

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS
Located approximately 660m west of Helford on a spur flanked by Frenchman’s Creek and the Helford estuary, overlooking the Helford River.

DESCRIPTION
The round to the west of Helford probably dates to the Iron Age or Romano-British period and survives as a roughly-circular enclosure approximately 0.6 hectares in area. The shape of the round is slightly distorted and measures approximately 95m north-south by 80m east-west. It is defined on the north and west sides by Cornish hedge-banks up to 2m high and 3m wide, which were probably constructed on top of the outer rampart.

A track from Kestle Barton runs north through the south side of the round and then follows the inside of the remains of the rampart, presented as a curved hedge-bank, on its western side. The track then leads through a 5m-wide gateway cut through the rampart and hedge-bank on the north-west side, curving east around the outside of the rampart and hedge-bank to Kestle Wartha farm to the north. The track also turns west away from the round, dropping down to Frenchman’s Creek.

The outer bank of the round on its south and east sides survives as below-ground remains. There is no physical evidence of a ditch or entrance. The interior of the round comprises a slight rise in ground level towards its south side which is likely to be natural.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING
The round is defined by the curved hedge banks on the west and north sides. The south and east sides are confined within the field and are plotted from National Mapping Programme data. A 5m buffer zone is included around the monument for its support and protection.

EXCLUSIONS
The track surface, all modern telegraph poles and signage, granite gateposts, and a bench and its hardstanding on the north side of the round, are excluded from the scheduled area, although the ground beneath them is included.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

CO 703

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Books and journals
Dowson, E, Manaccan Checklist in Cornish Archaeology, Vol. 4, (1965), 81
Henderson, C, Parochial Antiquities, (1914), 99

Websites
Heritage Gateway: Cornwall and Scilly Historic Environment Record (ref 24436), accessed 14/11/2024 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO8124&resourceID=1020

Other
R Thomas map, 1844
‘Statistics of Cornwall (no 36)’ by Richard Thomas, in The West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 26 September 1851, p6
Historic England, RAF photography: 12 July 1946

End of official list entry

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