Details

The monument includes a large prehistoric round cairn situated near the centre
of the broad summit ridge of Brown Gelly hill on southern Bodmin Moor. This
cairn is at the middle of a linear group of five large cairns arranged along
the ridge.
The round cairn survives with a circular mound of heaped rubble, 27m in
diameter and up to 3.8m high, with a very slight platform, up to 0.1m high,
extending up to 2m beyond its base. The mound is an inverted-bowl shape with
largely turf-covered steep sides. The top of the mound is truncated and bears
a rubble-strewn hollow, 7.5m in diameter and up to 1m deep, resulting from an
unrecorded antiquarian excavation. On the south and south-east sectors of the
mound, relatively recent stone-robbing has produced two distinct steps in the
slope, at approximately 0.5m and 2m above ground level and up to 2.5m wide,
with abundant loose rubble on and above each step. The rubble forming the
lower step extends to 2m beyond the projected circular perimeter of the mound
at the south-east. Although clearly the steps have been exposed by recent
activity, their form has been considered to provide evidence for original
internal structuring of the mound's rubble. Further small robbing hollows are
visible in the lower edge of the mound in the south-west sector. A small mound
of rubble, 2m in diameter, 0.2m high and situated 4.5m beyond the lower step's
south-east edge, contains further debris from these recent disturbances.
Beyond the monument, this linear group extends over 375m in a slight curve
along the summit ridge of Brown Gelly, the nearest cairn being located 48m to
the south-east. Extensive broadly contemporary settlement sites and field
systems are located on the eastern slope of the Browngelly Downs, 285m
to the south-east.

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.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been
recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The
Moor has been the subject of detailed archaeological survey and is one of the
best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes of
prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date provide direct evidence for human
exploitation of the Moor from the earliest prehistoric period onwards. The
well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, field
systems, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains
provides significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land
use through time. Round cairns are funerary monuments covering single or
multiple burials and dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were
constructed as mounds of earth and stone rubble up to 40m in external diameter
but usually considerably smaller; a kerb of edge-set stones sometimes bounds
the edges of the mound. Burials were placed in small pits, or on occasion
within a box-like structure of stone slabs called a cist, let into the old
ground surface or dug into the body of the cairn. Round cairns can occur as
isolated monuments, in small groups or in larger cemeteries. Their
considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provides
important information on the diversity of beliefs, burial practices and social
organisation in the Bronze Age. They are particularly representative of their
period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered
worthy of preservation.

This round cairn on Brown Gelly hill has survived substantially intact despite
the limited and well-defined disturbance from the antiquarian excavation and
stone-robbing. This cairn is unusually large and is contained in one of the
very few groups of large cairns on Bodmin Moor. The prominent setting of this
group and the diversity of cairns included within it demonstrate well the
nature of funerary practices during the Bronze Age and the relationship
between cairn size and topographical setting. The proximity of this cairn to
the broadly contemporary settlement sites and field systems on the Browngelly
Downs shows well the relationship of funerary activity with farming and
habitation during the Bronze Age.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Trahair, J E R, 'Cornish Archaeology' in A survey of cairns on Bodmin Moor, , Vol. 17, (1978), 3-24
Other
Buxton, H.K., The Landscape History of Brown Gelly, Bodmin Moor, 1986, Unpubl. BA Disstn, Univ. Sheffield
consulted 1993, Carter, A./Fletcher, M.J./RCHME, 1:2500 AP plots and field traces for SX 1972 & SX 2072,
consulted 1993, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1770.3,

Source: Historic England