Round 180m north east of Polstein

Reasons for Designation

Rounds are small embanked enclosures, one of a range of settlement types dating to between the later Iron Age and the early post-Roman period. Usually circular or oval, they have a single earth and rubble bank and an outer ditch, with one entrance breaking the circuit. Excavations have produced drystone supporting walls within the bank, paved or cobbled entrance ways, post built gate structures, and remains of timber, turf or stone built houses of oval or rectangular plan, often set around the inner edge of the enclosing bank. Other evidence includes hearths, drains, gullies, pits and rubbish middens. Evidence for industrial activities has been recovered from some sites, including small scale metal working and, among the domestic debris, items traded from distant sources. Some rounds are associated with secondary enclosures, either abutting the round as an annexe or forming an additional enclosure. Rounds are viewed primarily as agricultural settlements, the equivalents of farming hamlets. They were replaced by unenclosed settlement types by the 7th century AD. Over 750 rounds are recorded in the British Isles, occurring in areas bordering the Irish Seas, but confined in England to south west Devon and especially Cornwall, where many more examples may await discovery. Most recorded examples are sited on hillslopes and spurs. Rounds are important as one of the major sources of information on settlement and social organisation of the Iron Age and Roman periods in south west England. Consequently, sites with significant surviving remains will normally be considered to be of national importance.

The round 180m north east of Polstein survives reasonably well. Despite reduction and modification of the enclosing bank and ditch, the old land surface underlying the upstanding earthworks and remains of buildings, structures and other deposits associated with these will survive.

Details

The scheduling includes a later prehistoric to Romano-British round, situated on level ground on top of a ridge south of Threemilestone. The round is ovoid in plan, measuring up to 40m east-west by 34m north-south overall. The round has an enclosing bank of earth and stone, visible on the north west side where it is modified to form a modern stone-faced boundary bank some 2m wide and 1.4m-1.9m high, and on the NNE side in the form of a slight scarp. By analogy with similar sites, traces of the bank will extend around the whole circuit. The bank has an external ditch which a geophysical survey has identified as 2m wide and surviving as a buried feature at least around the east and south sides; a slight depression about 3m wide outside the modified bank at the south west corner is also considered to form part of this ditch. The geophysical survey also records higher levels of magnetic disturbance within the round, considered to indicate settlement-related activity.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

32949

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Thomas, R, Letter to the West Briton, (1851)
Bartlett, A, Polstain, Threemilestone, Cornwall, (1978)

Other
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: Kenwyn Tithe Apportionment Source Date: 1840 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: 1053

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