Three round cairns on Wills Neck

Reasons for Designation

The area of the Quantock Hills, although small in extent, is one of the few remaining expanses of open moorland in southern Britain. Its archaeological importance lies in the existence of a landscape displaying examples of monuments tracing the exploitation of the hills from the Bronze Age onwards. Well-preserved monuments from the Bronze Age and Iron Age, including round barrows, cairns, settlements, hillforts and a trackway, as well as later industrial remains, give insights into changes in the pattern of land use on the hills through time. These earthwork features are one of the key components of the Quantocks' broader landscape character. Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, the latter predominating in areas of upland Britain where such raw materials were locally available in abundance. Round cairns may cover single or multiple burials and are sometimes surrounded by an outer ditch. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major visual element in the modern landscape. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. Twelve round cairns have been recorded on the Quantocks, although the original figure is likely to have been higher. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite partial levelling of the central cairn and erosion of the easternmost cairn, the three round cairns on Wills Neck survive comparatively well as a group and will contain archaeological deposits and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. Evidence for later use of the central cairn provides an indicaton of their continued importance in the historic period.

Details

The monument includes three Bronze Age round cairns situated in a prominent location 730m south of Triscombe Stone on Wills Neck, a high, broad plateau in the southern region of the Quantock Hills, between Middle Hill and Bagborough Hill. Following an ESE to WNW alignment, the cairns include one with a levelled interior situated between two bowl shaped cairn mounds. The mound of the westernmost cairn is 21m in diameter, the mound of the easternmost cairn is 20m in diameter and both are approximately 1m high. A previous study of the easternmost cairn mound records the presence of an internal stone kerb of approximately 4.5m diameter. The central cairn is formed by a bank 4m wide and up to 0.9m high enclosing a levelled central area 30m in diameter. Early maps show a fire signal pit plotted at this location which may indicate that the original form of the cairn has been modified to accommodate this later feature. There are no longer any visible signs of the fire pit. The concrete trig point which is located on the mound of the easternmost cairn is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included.

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:

32174

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of Somerset Archaelogical & Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 113 Pt1, (1969), 40
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of Somerset Archaelogical & Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 113 Pt1, (1969), 40
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of Somerset Archaelogical & Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 113 Pt1, (1969), 40

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