Details

The monument includes a large prehistoric funerary round cairn situated near
other broadly contemporary cairns, settlement sites and field systems on the
northern spur of the Showery Tor ridge on north-west Bodmin Moor. The round
cairn survives as a circular mound of heaped rubble, 22.5m in diameter and up
to 1.5m high. Relatively recent stone-robbing has produced a central hollow,
12m in diameter, tapered to ground level at its base. Further limited stone-
robbing from the cairn's outer surface reveals an intermittent line of edge-
set slabs embedded within the rubble, 3m to 3.5m in from the mound's
perimeter, forming a kerb to the cairn.

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 large round cairn on the Showery Tor ridge has survived substantially
intact. Despite the relatively recent and well-defined actions of stone
robbers, it will retain many of its original features including the unusual
peripheral kerb, extensive areas of its buried land surface and associated
burial deposits. Its proximity to other broadly contemporary funerary and
settlement sites demonstrates well the nature of funerary practices and the
organisation of land use during the Bronze Age.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
consulted 10/1991, Carter, A./RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcriptions for SX 1379-81; SX 1480-82,
consulted 10/1991, Check Print 1 for CO 865 generated on 30/9/91,
consulted 10/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 3385,
Saunders, A.D., AM7 scheduling documentation for CO 865, 1972,
Title: Ordnance Survey 6": 1 mile Map; Cornwall XV SW
Source Date:
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England