Round cairn on Carn Polpry
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1004624
- Date first listed:
- 05-Jun-1961
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1004624
- Date first listed:
- 05-Jun-1961
- Location Description:
- Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Cornwall (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- St. Just
- National Grid Reference:
- SW 35799 29832
Reasons for Designation
Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as stone mounds covering single or multiple burials. These burials may be placed within the mound in stone-lined compartments called cists. In some cases the cairn was surrounded by a ditch. Often occupying prominent locations, cairns are a major visual element in the modern landscape. They are a relatively common feature of the uplands and are the stone equivalent of the earthen round barrows of the lowlands. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period. Despite partial early excavation, the round cairn on Carn Polpry will contain further 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 round cairn, situated on the far western coast of Cornwall on the rocky cliffs of Carn Polpry, overlooking Polpry Cove. The cairn survives as a circular stony mound measuring up to 8.5m in diameter, with a rim bank of small stones measuring 3m wide and up to 0.9m high. There are two protruding kerb stones visible to the north west, and a central excavation hollow. The cairn was partially excavated by Borlase in the late-19th century, along with two others and together they produced pottery from at least seven urns, burnt human bone, a flint and a perforated beach pebble. This particular cairn was also found to contain an inner stone wall. Further archaeological remains survive in the vicinity some are the subject of separate schedulings.
Sources: HER:- PastScape Monument No:-420567
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- CO 587
- Legacy System:
- RSM - OCN
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 17-Jul-2026 at 18:33:25.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.