Details

The monument includes a round, situated on the upper west facing slopes of a ridge forming the watershed between two tributaries of the River Neet. The round survives as an oval enclosure measuring 65m long by 55m wide internally, defined by a rampart bank and largely buried outer ditch. The rampart is preserved differentially throughout the circuit of the enclosure. Its bank, which is up to 8m wide and 1.5m high at its most defined, is in other places preserved only as a scarp. The outer ditch is up to 5m wide and 0.5m deep.

Sources: HER:-
PastScape Monument No:-31864

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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. Despite some disturbance, the round 210m north east of Northcott Park Quarry survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, longevity, function, agricultural practices, trade, territorial significance, social organisation, domestic arrangements and overall landscape context.

Source: Historic England