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. The linear boundaries on Bodmin Moor consist of stone
banks, sometimes incorporating facing slabs or projecting end-set slabs called
orthostats. They may be massively constructed, up to 8m wide and 1m high,
although the majority are much slighter. Built during the Bronze Age (c.2000-
700 BC), they fulfilled a variety of functions. Some run at high altitudes
along a contour and appear to separate lower land used for cultivation from
that less intensively used. Some may be territorial, marking the boundaries of
land held by particular social groups. Others may serve to delineate land set
aside for ceremonial and religious activities such as burial. Frequently
linear boundaries are associated with other forms of contemporary field
system. They provide important information on the farming practices and social
organisation of Bronze Age communities and form an important element of the
existing landscape. A substantial proportion of examples which have survived
are considered worthy of preservation.
These linear boundaries on the south-east edge of East Moor have survived well
with only limited and minor disturbance from later cultivation ridging. The
descent of the major boundary into deep peat deposits at each end will result
in the preservation of adjacent environmental evidence contemporary with the
boundary's construction and use. Their relationship to the local topography
and to broadly contemporary field systems, funerary and ceremonial monuments
nearby demonstrates well the organisation of land use and the roles of linear
boundaries during the Bronze Age.
Details
The monument includes a Prehistoric linear boundary crossing the end of a
small spur on the south-east edge of East Moor. The boundary marks the limit
to which the traces of broadly contemporary field systems on the tip of the
spur extend north-westwards onto the moor. A subsidiary Prehistoric boundary
branches off the linear boundary towards its south-west end, forming the upper
limit for part of those field systems.
The linear boundary survives as a largely turf-covered bank of heaped rubble,
up to 2m wide and 0.5m high. The bank incorporates occasional edge and
end-set slabs up to 0.5m high projecting through the turf. The bank is visible
for 330m north-east to south-west, crossing the spur at right angles to its
long axis and terminating at each end near the stream beds occupying the peaty
floors of the small valleys bounding each side of the spur. An original break,
5m wide, is present at the midpoint of the boundary on the crest of the spur.
At a point 38m before the boundary's south-west end, a secondary boundary
branches off to the south-east, curving slightly to an easterly direction as
it follows the contour around the tip of the spur. This secondary boundary is
visible for 158m as a slight scarp, 1.5m wide and 0.3m high, and incorporates
several large ground-fast boulders, up to 4m long, in its course.
Beyond this monument, extensive traces of Prehistoric field systems survive to
the south-east of the linear boundary, on the tip of the spur, approaching to
5m from the boundary near its midpoint break. Aerial photographs have also
indicated field boundaries, visible as vegetation marks, radially subdividing
the lower slope of the spur, with the secondary boundary as their uphill
limit. By contrast, the area north-west of the linear boundary lacks the field
system traces but contains a range of broadly contemporary funerary and
ceremonial monuments. Over the 60m at the north-east end of the monument, the
northern sector of an area of medieval cultivation ridges occupying the tip of
the spur extends north, beyond the Prehistoric linear boundary, producing
minor spreading of the boundary's rubble in the intervening furrows.
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.
