Warren's Barrow

Reasons for Designation

Bell barrows, the most visually impressive form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 1500-1100 BC. They occur either in isolation or in round barrow cemeteries and were constructed as single or multiple mounds covering burials, often in pits, and surrounded by an enclosure ditch. The burials are frequently accompanied by weapons, personal ornaments and pottery and appear to be those of aristocratic individuals, usually men. Bell barrows (particularly multiple barrows) are rare nationally, with less than 250 known examples, most of which are in Wessex. Their richness in terms of grave goods provides evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst early prehistoric communities over most of southern and eastern England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. As a particularly rare form of round barrow, all identified bell barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance.

Despite evidence for partial excavation, probably in antiquity, Warren's Barrow survives well and will retain archaeological evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was built. Together with a group of bell and bowl barrows to its south, Warren's Barrow forms part of a small round barrow cemetery and will retain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was built.

Details

The monument includes Warren's Barrow, a bell barrow situated on the tip of a south facing hill slope at the eastern edge of Newlyn Downs. It represents the most northerly of a group of barrows at Carland Cross which together formed a round barrow cemetery. The rest of the barrows in this group are the subject of separate schedulings. The barrow has a stepped appearance with a central mound about 10m in diameter containing a large central depression, surrounded on all sides by a lower and flatter berm which varies in width between 16m and 10m. The total diameter of the barrow mound is 36m and it has a maximum height of 3.6m. Other barrows in the vicinity are known to have been accompanied by a surrounding ditch from which material was quarried for their construction. Whilst Warren's Barrow has no such visible surrounding feature at ground level, its approximately 2m wide ditch is likely to survive below ground, the infilling of the ditch by natural processes over the course of many centuries masking it from present view. The unusual shape of the barrow led to the supposition in former years that the central mound was raised as a beacon on the site of a bowl barrow. However, the shape of the barrow is consistent with the bell barrow form and the depression in the centre of the mound the result of antiquarian excavation. The monument has become known locally as Warren's Barrow after General Warren who was reputedly buried there. All modern material overlying the barrow and its 2m protective margin, resulting from the construction of a temporary track, is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath this material 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:

29681

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Prior, R, Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall in Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, Vol. 13, (1898), 435-437

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry