Round barrow cemetery 420m north east of Higher Ennis Farm

Reasons for Designation

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The barrow cemetery 420m north east of Higher Ennis Farm survives well, the barrows showing clearly their differing forms. The mounds remain substantially intact, despite modern ploughing of four of the barrows and evidence for other limited disturbance at two, and some have remains of a stone kerb and/or a ditch around them. The old land surface beneath the mounds and original buried deposits associated with them will also survive. The ridge-top location of the cemetery and the alignment of three of the barrows within it, together with the varying forms of the barrows in this scheduling and the other closely associated barrows beyond it, illustrate well the important role of topography and the diversity of practices within Bronze Age funerary activity.

Details

The monument includes a round barrow cemetery containing five barrows of bowl, bell and platform type, situated on the ESE shoulder of a ridge south west of Carland Cross. They are closely associated with four other barrows, which form outliers to the cemetery and are the subject of separate schedulings. The five barrows are fairly closely and evenly spaced, with three aligned across the gentle slope of the land and are contained in four separate areas of protection. The two barrows on the south side of the group are aligned north west-south east. The south east barrow of the pair has a grassy mound 30m in diameter and around 1.8m high; its edges are rather spread, but it has a more rounded profile in the centre, indicating that it was originally a bowl shaped mound. A smooth lump on its southern side may be upcast from the cutting of a modern pond just beyond the barrow. A slight waterlogged area west of the mound is considered to represent the buried ditch which encircles it. The north western of these two barrows has a grassy mound 35m in diameter and around 1m high, with gently sloping sides and a flattened top, suggesting it was of platform type. The sides of the mound have been clipped by ploughing, leaving parallel ridges. In 1898 remains of a ditch were noted. To the north, the scheduling includes a prominent bell barrow, known as Killigrew Barrow after the estate on which it lay. Its mound is 17m in diameter and 2.5m high, steep sided with a flatter but uneven top. Quartz blocks around its base are considered to be part of a kerb of stones set in the perimeter of the mound. An irregular depression in the centre of the top was probably caused by an antiquarian excavation. It was described as a fine bell barrow in 1898, implying a surrounding level area and outer ditch. There is a depression averaging 3m wide outside the mound, considered to be the remains of this ditch. To the west of Killigrew Barrow is a bowl barrow with a grassy mound 34m in diameter and 1.7m high. Its edges have been spread, leaving a more rounded profile in the centre. A slight depression to the west of the mound is considered to be the remains of an outer ditch. The western barrow in the scheduling is aligned with the southern pair. This barrow has a grassy mound 30m in diameter and 1m high. It was described as probably a broad or platform barrow in 1898. All modern posts and fences 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:

32903

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Preston-Jones, A, Lawson Jones, A, Killigrew Barrow, Carland Cross, (1997)
Henderson, C, Parochial Antiquities in Parochial Antiquities, Vol. 3, (1916), 210-211
Prior, R, Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall in Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, (1898), 436
Prior, R, Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall in Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, (1898), 436

Other
Title: 1st Edition Map Source Date: 1888 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
SW 85 SW 6, Fletcher, M, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1970)

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.