Neolithic long cairn 690m ENE of Trewortha Farm

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.

Long cairns were constructed as elongated rubble mounds and acted as funerary monuments during the early Neolithic period (c4000-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long cairns appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only partial human remains selected for interment. Long cairns sometimes display evidence of internal structural arrangements, including stone-lined compartments and tomb chambers constructed from massive slabs. Some examples also show edge-set kerb stones bounding parts of the cairn perimeter. Certain sites provide evidence for several phases of funerary activity preceding construction of the cairn and consequently it is probable that long cairns acted as important ritual sites for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 examples of long cairns and long barrows, their earthen counterparts in central and eastern England, are recorded nationally, of which six are known from Bodmin Moor. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive as a visible monument and due to their comparative rarity, their considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all long cairns are considered to be nationally important.

The long cairn on Twelve Men's Moor has survived well with no evidence for any disturbance. Its proximity to a dispersed Bronze Age cairn group demonstrates well the development of burial practices and the continuity of areas set apart for funerary monuments during the Earlier Prehistoric period.

Details

The monument comprises a Neolithic long cairn, situated near a scattered group of round cairns and a hut circle settlement on the wide saddle of Twelve Men's Moor between Kilmar Tor and the Trewortha Tor-Hawkstor ridge on eastern Bodmin Moor. The long cairn survives as a linear mound of well-consolidated heaped rubble, 18.5m long, 3.7m wide and up to 0.8m high. The long axis of the cairn is orientated almost exactly east-west. The grass-covered mound has stones up to 0.5m across breaking through the turf. It varies little in width, tapering only slightly before each blunt rounded end, and it has a clear reduction in height about its centre. Occasional small edge-set stones up to 0.2m high occur along the sides of the mound, the remains of a perimeter kerb. This long cairn is centred 57m WSW and 61m SE of two large Bronze Age cairns, the closest two cairns in the nearby dispersed group.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

15101

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1014,
9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1425,
consulted 9/1991, Carter, A./RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcription for SX 2475,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1013,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1013.12,
9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1013.01 & .02,

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.