Details

The monument includes a small prehistoric round cairn situated on the lower
northern slope of Ridge hill on eastern Bodmin Moor, close to other broadly
contemporary funerary and settlement monuments.
The cairn survives as a turf-covered circular mound of heaped rubble, 3.75m in
diameter and 0.5m high, clearly visible in the surrounding thick peaty turf
due to the thinner vegetation covering its rubble content. Relatively recent
stone robbing has produced a slight hollow, 0.75m in diameter and 0.2m deep in
the top of the mound.

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 Ridge Hill has survived well, with only very minor
disturbance by stone robbers, and it will retain many of its original features
including 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 4/1992, Carter, A./RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcription for SX 2478,
consulted 4/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1029.6,
consulted 4/1992, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1030,

Source: Historic England