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.
Details
The monument includes a prehistoric ritual stone setting situated near the
broadly contemporary Stannon Stone Circle on the north-west edge of a broad
spur between Dinnever Hill and Louden Hill on north-west Bodmin Moor.
The stone setting is visible as a staggered linear arrangement of four small
end-set granite slabs situated on the lower slope of the spur below a flat
shelf on which the stone circle is located. The northern two slabs of the
setting are situated 1.25m apart on a north-south axis; the northern slab
stands 0.75m high and measures 0.5m wide by 0.25m thick; the southern slab
stands 0.8m high and measures 0.45m wide by 0.4m thick. The greater width of
each of these northern slabs is set transversely to the axis of the pair. The
southern two slabs in the setting are situated 2m apart on a NNW-SSE axis,
with their northern slab located 1.8m south-west of the southern slab in the
northern pair. The southern two slabs are smaller, each measuring 0.3m wide by
0.2m thick, with their greatest width roughly in line with the axis of the
pair. The northern slab of this pair stands 0.4m high and the southern stands
0.35m high. All of the slabs have extremely weathered surfaces.
The monument is located within one of several areas on Bodmin Moor that
contain unusually large groupings of prehistoric ritual and funerary
monuments. Beyond this monument, these include the Stannon Stone Circle, 62m
to the south-east, the Louden Stone Circle, 900m to the south-east, and the
Fernacre Stone Circle, 2km to the ESE. This monument is directly on the
alignment between the Louden and Stannon Stone Circles, extended to the
north-west of the latter. Broadly contemporary funerary monuments on this
spur, from 240m to the south-east, include two cairns and a free-standing
burial cist, a slab-built, box-like structure. Other phases of prehistoric
exploitation of the spur produced an irregular field system extending south
and east from the Stannon Stone Circle, and a series of linear boundaries that
cut across the field system. A prehistoric hut circle settlement is located on
the northern slope of the spur, from 185m to the ESE, with another hut circle
situated 142m to the WNW.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
15280
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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.
End of official list entry
