Chambered tomb 165m north east of the Rocket Pole Pond, Lundy

Reasons for Designation

Lundy is a small, steep sided island in the Bristol Channel, 16m north of Hartland Point, north Devon. Aligned north-south, it is 6km long by 1km wide and supports a predominately moorland vegetation. The 100m high cliffs and tabular form give it a striking appearance, visible in clear weather from parts of south west England and south Wales. Lundy's remoteness and (until the 19th century construction of the Beach Road) its inaccessibility, combined with a lack of shelter and cultivable soils, has meant that it has escaped more recent occupation or development. It therefore preserves a remarkable variety of archaeological sites from early prehistory (c.8000 BC) onwards, representing evidence for habitation, fortification, farming and industry. There are also archaeological remains in the waters surrounding the island - over 150 shipwrecks are already recorded. Most of the island's archaeology is well documented from detailed survey in the 1980s and 1990s.

Chambered tombs are funerary monuments constructed and used during the Early and Middle Neolithic periods (3400-2400 BC). They comprise linear mounds of stone covering one or more stone-lined burial chambers. With other types of long barrow they form the burial places of Britain's early farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly within the present landscape. Where investigated, chambered tombs appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the human remains having been selected for interment. The number of burials placed within the tombs suggest they were used over a considerable period of time and that they are important ritual sites for local communities. Some 300 chambered tombs are recorded in England. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive as upstanding monuments, and due to their rarity, their considerable age and longevity as a monument type, all chambered tombs are considered to be nationally important. Much of the small chambered tomb north east of the Rocket Pole Pond survives and will provide valuable information about the date and purpose of the monument. The soil beneath and around the tomb will also yield evidence of the environmental conditions at the time it was constructed. This is the only chambered tomb so far recorded on Lundy.

Details

The monument includes a stone-built cist lying in the depression formed by a 19th century excavation. Surrounding stonework suggests that it is the remains of a chambered tomb. The excavation revealed a block of granite 0.47m thick resting on two upright slabs enclosing a chamber about 1.8m wide and 1.8m deep. This slab appears to have been moved to the north to expose the interior. It still lies in this position with the interior of the cist open, although now partly filled with soil and vegetation. A fragment of pottery, now lost, was found in the cavity but no other dating evidence remains. Although the chamber has been exposed, other details of the original construction including buried features such as pits, secondary burials and the remains of the covering cairn will survive.

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:

27625

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Gosse, PH, Land and Sea, (1865)

Other
Title: Ordnance Survey Record Source Date: 1962 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:

End of official list entry

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