Trevarnon Round

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, where many more examples may await discovery. 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 significant reduction in the height of the ramparts through cultivation, Trevarnon Round survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, function, agricultural practices, trade, potential industrial activity, trade, domestic arrangements and overall landscape context.

Details

The monument includes a round, situated on a low coastal ridge overlooking Upton Towans and St Ives Bay. The round survives as an oval enclosure defined by a rampart and outer ditch preserved largely as buried features, but with a length of bank up to 2m high to the north west and as a scarp to the south west. Its original extent may be indicated by the surrounding curving field boundaries which might represent an outer line of defences. Reported finds from the round include a cannon ball and some copper coins of uncertain date.

Sources: HER:- PastScape Monument No:-425119

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

CO 131

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

End of official list entry

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