Four round barrows 400m south east of Little Trewinnick Farm

Reasons for Designation

Round barrows 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 mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus of 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 examples recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of Britain, including the Wessex area where it is often possible to classify them more closely, for example as bowl or bell barrows. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation in 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.

Despite limited modification, the four round barrows 400m south east of Little Trewinnick Farm survive fairly well. The underlying old land surfaces, and remains of any structures or other deposits associated with these and with the upstanding earthworks, will also survive. The evidence for layers of different materials making up one of the barrow mounds illustrates the variation in types of construction within this monument type.

Details

The scheduling includes four prehistoric round barrows, situated on slight north and north east facing slopes south of a valley head, on Bear's Downs, north of St Columb Major. The barrows lie in three separate areas of protection. They are associated with other round barrows to the south, which are the subject of a separate scheduling, forming a distinctive group within a wider barrow cemetery. The round barrows are irregularly spaced, the two in the north of the scheduling forming an adjoining pair, while those to the south east are more widely set. The northernmost of the pair has a mound of earth and stone, oval in plan, with a gently rounded profile, modified by cultivation. It measures 20.5m across north-south by 16m east-west, and is up to 1.6m high where it projects from the natural slope on the north east. There is no evidence for a ditch around the mound. The southern barrow of the pair is visible as an oval earth and stone mound, with no surrounding ditch, measuring approximately 13m north-south by 8m east-west. It is reduced by ploughing to a height of around 0.3m.

Moving south east, the next barrow has an oval mound with no known ditch. The mound extends 32m north-south and 18m east-west, the east side being levelled by agricultural operations. It is around 1.5m high, and has a smoothed, rounded profile. The surface of the mound appears more clay-like, and stony, than that of the surrounding ground. An excavation has provided evidence of construction in layers, some of turf and some stone. The southernmost barrow in the scheduling has a sub-circular earth and stone mound, measuring approximately 18m across and 2.5m high. The mound shows limited modern modification, and truncation on the east, and has a central hollow considered to be an antiquarian excavation. Again, there is no evidence for an external ditch.

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:

32978

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Dudley, D, Proceedings of the West Cornwall Field Club in Recent Work in Cornish Archaeology 3 Bogee, St Ervan, Vol. Vol 1, 4, (1956), 149-150

Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map Source Date: 1908 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Date approx.
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map Source Date: 1908 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Date approx.
Title: Ordnance Survey 2" drawing Source Date: 1810 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Title: Pydar Map and notes Source Date: 1840 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: MS
Title: Pydar Map and notes Source Date: 1840 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: MS
Title: Pydar Map and notes Source Date: 1840 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: MS
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map Source Date: 1880 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Date approx.
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map Source Date: 1880 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Date approx.
Title: St Ervan Tithe Apportionment Source Date: 1842 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: 523
Title: St Ervan Tithe Apportionment Source Date: 1842 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: 535a
Title: Cornwall Mapping Project Source Date: 1995 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
SW 96 NW 2, Fletcher, MJ, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1972)
SW 96 NW 5, Quinnell, NV, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1977)
SW 96 NW 12, Fletcher, MJ, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1972)
MS at RIC library, Truro. Date approx, Henderson, C, Notebooks of Parochial Antiquities, Notebooks of Parochial Antiquities, (1920)
MS at RIC library, Truro. Date approx, Henderson, C, Notebooks of Parochial Antiquities, Notebooks of Parochial Antiquities, (1920)
Saunders, AD, AM7, (1958)
SW 96 NW 5, Fletcher, MJ, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1972)
SW 96 NW 12, Quinnell, NV, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1977)
SW 96 NW 2, Quinnell, NV, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1977)

End of official list entry

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