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.
Despite modification by ploughing of the earthworks enclosing the round,
and the levelling of those of the annexe and associated fields, the round
and annexe 330m west of Lanner Barton survive comparatively well. The
underlying old land surface, and remains of any structures or other
deposits associated with this and with the upstanding earthworks and
ditches, will also survive. The association with a field system will
contribute to our understanding of the farming of this region in the later
prehistoric to Roman periods.
Details
The scheduling includes a later prehistoric to Romano-British round and
annexe, situated on level ground north of a summit on top of a ridge, north of
Truro. Part of an associated field system, and a length of medieval trackway,
also lie within the scheduled area.
Together, the combined plan of the round with the known extent of the
annexe are pear-shaped and measure up to approximately 100m across
overall. The round itself is oval in plan. Its external measurements are
100m north-south by 65m east-west. It has an enclosing rampart of earth
and stone, spread by ploughing, forming a bank 6m-15m across, low on its
inner side but up to 0.3m high outside. An external ditch surrounding the
rampart is shown on aerial photographs. This is largely filled or silted,
but remains visible as a slight depression, up to 12m across. The aerial
photographs also show a buried curving ditch some 40m long, 30m east of
the round. By analogy with similar sites elsewhere, this forms part of a
ditch with bank inside it, enclosing a crescentic annexe to the round.
Buried ditches defining curving fields to the west of the round are again
recorded on aerial photographs, but are not visible on the ground. The
east end of one of these ditches, attached to the round's external ditch
on its west side, lies within the margin of the scheduled area. The round
is bisected along its long axis by a trackway, known as Blind Lane, and
considered to be of medieval origin. The track measures around 6m across,
and is bounded by hedge banks of earth and stone some 2m high and 2m wide.
The electricity pylons and power lines, and all modern fencing, 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.
