Round cairn 1.175km WSW of East Castick 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. Round cairns are funerary monuments covering single or multiple burials and dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as mounds of earth and stone rubble up to 40m in external diameter but usually considerably smaller; a kerb of edge-set stones sometimes bounds the edges of the mound. Burials were placed in small pits, or on occasion within a box-like structure of stone slabs called a cist, let into the old ground surface or dug into the body of the cairn. Round cairns can occur as isolated monuments, in small groups or in larger cemeteries. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provides important information on the diversity of beliefs, burial practices and social organisation in the Bronze Age. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of preservation.

This round cairn on Hawk's Tor has survived well, with no visible or recorded evidence for previous disturbance. The build-up of deposits against its uphill side will preserve buried land surfaces and environmental evidence contemporary with, and subsequent to, its construction. Its proximity to other broadly contemporary cairns, settlement sites, enclosures and field systems demonstrates well the nature of ritual activities and the organisation of land use during the Bronze Age.

Details

The monument includes a Prehistoric round cairn situated on the lower SE flank of Hawk's Tor on eastern Bodmin Moor, near other broadly contemporary cairns, hut circle settlements, enclosures and field systems. The cairn is visible as a mound of heaped rubble, 8m in diameter and up to 1m high, whose steep sides rise to a flattened upper surface 6m in diameter. The uphill, NW, side of the cairn has accumulated a build-up of hillwash deposits since its construction, reducing its height on that side to 0.3m. This monument is situated close to the western outlying hut circles of a dispersed unenclosed hut circle settlement.

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:

15156

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
King, G, Sheppard, P, Cornish Archaeology in Parochial Checklist of Antiquities 10: Parish of North Hill, Vol. 18, (1979)

Other
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1190,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1014,
consulted 10/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1175,
consulted 6/1992, Carter, A./RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcriptions for SX 2475; SX 2575 & SX 2576,
consulted 10/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1178,

End of official list entry

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