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. Platform cairns are funerary monuments covering single or multiple burials and dating to the Early Bronze Age (c.2000-1600 BC). They were constructed as low flat-topped mounds of stone rubble up to 40m in external diameter. Some examples have other features, including peripheral banks and internal mounds, constructed on this platform. A kerb of edge-set stones sometimes bounds the edges of the platform, bank or mound, or all three. Platform cairns occur as isolated monuments, in small groups, or in cairn cemeteries. In the latter instances they are normally found alongside cairns of other types. Although no precise figure is available, current evidence indicates that there are less than 250 known examples of this monument class nationally. They are a rare monument type exhibiting considerable variation in form. Despite some partial early excavation and use for field clearance, the three platform cairns 320m south east of Moorgate survive comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to their construction, relative chronologies, territorial significance, social organisation, ritual and funerary practices and overall landscape context.
Details
The monument, which falls into three areas of protection, includes three platform cairns, situated on a low ridge, overlooking the River Camel. The three cairns survive as low, flat-topped circular stony mounds constructed mainly of small white quartz boulders and defined by intermittent kerbs of granite slabs. Larger granite slabs from field clearance have been subsequently added to two cairns, and the centres of these two also have hollows indicating early partial excavation or robbing. The northern cairn measures 10m in diameter and 0.6m high and has no obvious surface irregularities. The central cairn is 9.4m in diameter and 0.4m high and has some field clearance material on the surface and a central hollow. The south western cairn stands up to 0.6m high and is 20m in diameter it also has a central hollow and additional field clearance material.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
CO 494
Legacy System:
RSM - OCN
End of official list entry
