Two cairns, 780m ESE of Triscombe Farm

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.

The two cairns located 780m ESE of Triscombe Farm survive comparatively well and form part of a larger group situated on Wills Neck. They will contain archaeological deposits and environmental evidence relating to the cairns and the wider landscape in which they were constructed.

Details

The monument includes two Bronze Age cairns aligned from north west to south east along the crest of a north western spur on Wills Neck, a high, broad plateau in the southern region of the Quantock Hills. The cairn located to the north west is 23m in diameter and approximately 1m high. A post-medieval reference suggests that this cairn may have been used as a fire signal site although there are now no visible signs of this on its surface. The second cairn is located to the south east of the former with a distance of 10m separating the two mounds; it is 28m in diameter and approximately 0.5m high. Both cairns have hollow and uneven centres, a possible indication that the cairns were partly excavated in antiquity. Additional cairns surviving on Wills Neck are the subject of separate schedulings.

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:

32175

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

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

End of official list entry

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