Round cairn 525m east of Trewalla 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 southern Craddock Moor has survived well without any visible or recorded disturbance. Its proximity to the broadly contemporary settlement sites and to the concentration of ritual and funerary monuments on Craddock Moor demonstrates well the organisation of land use and the diversity of ritual monuments during the Bronze Age.

Details

The monument includes a slightly ovoid Prehistoric round cairn situated near the southern edge of a major concentration of Bronze Age funerary and ritual monuments and close to a broadly contemporary settlement site and field system on the southern part of Craddock Moor on SE Bodmin Moor. The round cairn is visible as a near-circular mound of heaped rubble, up to 0.7m high and measuring 6m NW-SE by 5.2m NE-SW. The largely turf-covered, shallow-domed mound shows no irregularities from any disturbance. Beyond this monument, another, partly excavated round cairn is situated 80m to the east, while the intervening area contains the numerous very small cairns of a Prehistoric cairnfield. Also beyond this monument, the boundaries of a Prehistoric field system incorporating stone hut circles approach within 10m north of the cairn.

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:

15174

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Sharpe, A, The Minions Area Archaeological Survey and Management (Volume 2), (1989), 278-282

Other
Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1405,
consulted 1/1992, Carter, A/RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcriptions for SX 2471, SX 2472, SX 2571, SX 2572,
Consulted 1/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 14035,

End of official list entry

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