The Cregou or Cregon bowl barrow and enclosure 900m south east of Park Farm

Reasons for Designation

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The Cregou or Cregon bowl barrow 900m south east of Park Farm survives reasonably well. Although the mound has been dug into and its form modified by relatively recent activity, it remains substantially intact, as will parts of the underlying old land surface and any surviving original deposits associated with the mound and old land surface. Its location on a false crest of a hill illustrates well the important role of topography in Bronze Age funerary activity. Its association with a later enclosure of medieval type demonstrates the longevity of barrows as important elements in the landscape.

Details

The monument includes a prehistoric bowl barrow known as the Cregou or Cregon and an adjacent medieval enclosure, situated on a false crest on the south west shoulder of a hill above the Tresillian River, near Malpas. The barrow has a large ovoid earth and stone mound, 37m across north west- south east by 22m north east-south west and up to 1.5m high, with a fairly level top. An oval hollow in the mound north west of centre is considered to represent an antiquarian excavation, which was extended north west in the 20th century so that it now opens from field level on that side, probably to facilitate stone robbing or to adapt the hollow as a watering place for stock. The hollow is 13m across north west-south east by 10m across north east-south west and has a fairly smooth base, sloping to around 0.8m below field level and 1.6m below the top of the mound. A rounded protrusion 15m across on the north west of the mound, forming the west side of the hollow, is considered to incorporate redeposited material derived from the barrow, probably during the modern expansion of the hollow. Hedgebanks 2m-4m wide run along the north east and south east sides of the mound. That on the north east is considered to have truncated the mound, leaving a spread of small stones in the field beyond, and forms the south west side of the adjacent enclosure. A scarp 0.4m high running from the south side of the mound to the hedgebank to the south east is the remains of a modern boundary which formerly enclosed the mound. The enclosure, which lies to the north east of the barrow, is considered to originate from the use of the mound in the medieval period, perhaps as a lookout for the Malpas ferry to the SSW or other functions associated with the neighbouring manorial centre and castle of Moresk. It has a roughly circular, gently sloping platform measuring approximately 16m across internally, defined by a curving stony levelling scarp some 5m across and 0.4m high on the north and north east sides, and by a spread of small stones 5m across on the south west side where the enclosure runs up to the boundary bank at the edge of the barrow.

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:

32909

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Padel, O J, Cornish placename elements, (1985), 73, 50
Worcester, W, Itinerary, (1487)
Henderson, C, Essays in Cornish History, (1935), 115
Henderson, C, Parochial Antiquities in Parochial Antiquities, Vol. 3, (1917), 222
Mc'Lauchlan, H, Annual Report of the Royal Institution of Cornwall in Notes on the Manors of Tewington, Moresk, and Tywarnhaile, (1848), 20-24
Mc'Lauchlan, H, Annual Report of the Royal Institution of Cornwall in Notes on the Manors of Tewington, Moresk, and Tywarnhaile, (1848), 21-22
Preston-Jones, A, Rose, P, Cornish Archaeology in Medieval Cornwall, Vol. 25, (1986), 172

Other
Title: Estate map at RIC library, Truro Source Date: Author: Publisher: Surveyor: MMP/27
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map Source Date: 1908 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map Source Date: 1880 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Title: St Clement Tithe Apportionment Source Date: 1840 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: 1637
Title: Estate Map at RIC library, Truro Source Date: Author: Publisher: Surveyor: HJ/8/35
Title: Estate Map in RIC library, Truro Source Date: Author: Publisher: Surveyor: MMP/27
Title: St Clement Tithe Apportionment Map Source Date: 1840 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: 1643
SW 84 SW 4, JMR, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1980)
Preston-Jones, A, AM107, (1987)

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