Reasons for Designation
Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been
recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The
quality and diversity of the evidence is such that the Moor has become the
subject of detailed archaeological survey and hence forms one of the best
recorded upland landscapes in England. Of particular note are the extensive
relict landscapes of Prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date. Together
these provide direct evidence for human exploitation of the moor from the
earliest Prehistoric times 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 funerary cairns were constructed during the Bronze Age (c.2500-700 BC)
and consisted of mounds of stone, sometimes ditched, which covered single or
multiple burials. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major
visual element in the modern landscape. The considerable variation in the
size of cairn cemeteries and their longevity as a monument type provide
important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation
amongst early Prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative
of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection. This cairn is well preserved, has not been
excavated and is a member of a small group of cairns. Its importance is also
enhanced by its close spatial and broadly contemporary association with the
large and well-preserved settlement site and field system on the S and SW
slopes of the Blacktor Downs.
Details
This monument comprises a small platform cairn, part of the Blacktor Downs
cairn group in the middle of Bodmin Moor.
This monument survives as a low circular cairn, 9m in diameter and 0.3m high,
with some of its stone content visible beneath its intermittently broken turf
cover. The cairn's flattened, irregular upper surface shows no evidence for
ever having been much higher, despite some recent disturbance in the central
area, and is considered to have originally formed a low flat-topped platform
of mounded stone, termed a platform cairn. The monument has not been subject
to any recorded excavation, the disturbed upper surface probably being due to
stone-robbing for wall-building. This is one of five cairns in the Blacktor
Downs cairn group, which lie 12-42m apart on the summit plateau, near the
middle of Bodmin Moor. The cairn group lies above a large unenclosed hut
circle settlement on the S slope of the Blacktor Downs, and its associated
field system on the SW slope.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
15030
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
