Round and annexe 720m WSW of Tregear

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 and annexe 720m WSW of Tregear survive reasonably well, despite some reduction and modification of the enclosing banks and ditches. 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 with an annexe, situated on a slight south west slope on top of a ridge east of Trispen. The overall plan is irregular, the sub-circular round and the roughly crescentic annexe on its west side together measuring up to 130m WSW-ENE by 90m NNW-SSE. The round measures about 90m across. It has an enclosing bank 10m-16m wide and 0.6m-0.9m high externally and up to 0.2m high internally. The exposed material of the bank is shillet stones, mostly under 0.1m across, with some earth. On the north east side, it is modified to form part of a modern field boundary bank about 1.8m wide at its base and up to 1.2m high, with post-medieval type stone revetments either side. The external ditch is around 13m wide and 0.3m- 0.7m deep. The round's interior is fairly level. The approximate external dimensions of the annexe are 65m north-south by 50m east-west. It has an enclosing bank of earth and stone, visible on the north side as a slight earthwork which, by analogy with similar sites, extends around the east and south sides. An external ditch, now buried, appears on aerial photographs which also show buried remains of a sub-oval feature on the north west edge of the annexe ditch, considered to be the remains of an associated house or small enclosure. The modern water tanks, all associated piping and well fittings, drinking trough and concrete block steps are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them 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:

32950

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Padel, O J, Cornish placename elements, (1985), 50, 223
Thomas, R, Letter to the West Briton, (1851)

Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 2" drawing Source Date: 1811 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map Source Date: 1880 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map Source Date: 1908 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Title: Ladock Tithe Apportionment Source Date: 1840 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: 487
Dyer, CA, Cornwall Mapping Project, (1999)
SW 85 SE 4, Fletcher, MJ, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1970)
MS at RIC library, Truro, Henderson, C, Parochial Antiquities, Parochial Antiquities, (1917)

End of official list entry

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