Two platform cairns centred 485m SW of Colquite 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 quality and diversity of the evidence is such that the Moor has become the subject of detailed archaeological survey and hence it 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 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 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 and form of cairns 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. These cairns are well preserved, have not been excavated and form part of a small group of cairns. Their importance is also enhanced by their 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

The monument comprises two small platform cairns, part of the Blacktor Downs cairn group in the middle of Bodmin Moor. Centred 12m apart on a WNW-ESE axis, both cairns survive as turf-covered low stone mounds; the eastern cairn is 7m in diameter and 0.5m high, while the western cairn is 6m diameter and 0.5m high. Both cairns have some of their stone content visible beneath intermittent breaks in the turf cover. The flattened irregular upper surfaces of the cairns show no evidence for ever having been much higher, despite some recent disturbance in their central areas, and they are considered to have originally formed low flat-topped platforms, of mounded stone, termed platform cairns. The monument has not been subject to any recorded excavation, the disturbed upper surfaces probably being due to stone-robbing for wall-building. These are two of the 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.

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:

15031

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Trahair, J E R, Cornish Archaeology in A survey of cairns on Bodmin Moor, (1978), 3-24
Trahair, J E R, Cornish Archaeology in A survey of cairns on Bodmin Moor, (1978), 3-24

Other
consulted 1/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1769.4,
consulted 1/1991, Carter, A/RCHME, 1:2500 AP trancriptions for SX 1573 (cons. 1/1991),
consulted 1/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1843,
1/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1769,

End of official list entry

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