Craddock Moor stone alignment, centred 550m north-east of Sparretts 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.

Stone alignments or stone rows consist of upright stones set in a single line, or in two or more parallel lines, up to several hundred metres in length. They are often sited close to Prehistoric burial monuments such as small cairns and cists, and to ritual monuments such as stone circles, and are therefore considered to have had an important ceremonial function. The seven stone alignments known on Bodmin Moor are considered to date from the late Neolithic to early Bronze Age periods (c.2500 - 1600 BC) and provide rare evidence of ceremonial and ritual practices on the Moor during these periods. Owing to their rarity and longevity as a monument type, all examples that are not extensively damaged will be considered nationally important. The Craddock Moor stone alignment is well preserved and extensively complete, with only minor breaks where stones are missing. It will also retain its associated contemporary land surface and environmental evidence in the damp deposits about the centre of its course. It lies in proximity to a major concentration of broadly contemporary ceremonial and funerary monuments, demonstrating well the diversity of ritual practices on the Moor during the Bronze Age.

Details

The monument comprises a Prehistoric stone alignment crossing the western edge of Craddock Moor, close to a concentration of Bronze Age ceremonial and funerary monuments in south-eastern Bodmin Moor. The stone alignment survives as a single straight line on a NE-SW axis, 244m long, and contains over 85 small end- and edge-set stones each up to 0.4m long and projecting to a maximum 0.4m above the turf. The stones are generally spaced 1m - 1.5m apart though occasional larger gaps in the sequence occur where individual stones have either been removed or have become buried beneath the peaty soil. The stone alignment crosses a broad shallow valley containing extensive damp peat deposits and enters an area encompassed by a Prehistoric field system at its north-eastern end. Parts of its course were subject to cultivation in the medieval period, producing traces of characteristic ridges and furrows. This stone alignment was discovered by aerial mapping in 1977 and was surveyed in 1985.

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:

15079

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
CAU/RCHME, The Bodmin Moor Survey, Unpubl. draft text. Ch.4, 1.3, fig 17
consulted 6/1991, Carter, A./RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcriptions, SX 2373 & 2472,
consulted 1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1362,
consulted 1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1252,
consulted 6/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1293,
consulted 6/1991, Carter, A./RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcriptions, SX 2472 & 2473,

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