Details

The monument comprises a round cairn on and around a natural rock outcrop,
part of a linear cairn group on a SSW spur of Caradon Hill, on the SE edge of
Bodmin Moor.
The cairn survives as circular mound, 14m diameter and up to 1.75m high,
composed of small to medium-sized stones, up to c.0.5m long, heaped upon a
small natural flat rock outcrop, extending beyond its edge on the N and E
sides, but defined by a sheer drop along the outcrop's S and W sides. The
outcrop clearly forms the bulk of the cairn's volume, but the heaped stone is
well-consolidated and largely turf-covered, with no evidence for any previous
disturbance. This cairn has been surveyed but has not been subject to
archaeological excavation. It lies near the SW end of a dispersed linear group
of cairns that extends along the crest of a broad spur running SSW from
Caradon Hill and contains nine cairns of several types typical of the Early
and Middle Bronze Age (c.2000 - 1000 BC).

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
quality and diversity of the evidence is such that the moor has been the
subject of detailed archaeological survey and hence it forms one of the best
recorded upland landscapes in England. Of particular note are the extensive
relict landscapes of Prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date. Together
these 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 dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC),
covering single or multiple burials. 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.
Round cairns are sometimes associated with external ditches, though none have
been recorded from examples on Bodmin Moor. Burials were placed in small pits,
sometimes containing a box-like structure of stone slabs called a cist, let
into the old ground surface, and or in the body of the cairn itself. Round
cairns can occur as isolated monuments, in small groups or in cairn
cemeteries. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major visual
element in the modern landscape. Their considerable variation in form and
longevity as a monument type provide 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
Caradon Hill has not been excavated and survives largely intact; consequently
it will retain many of its original features, including undisturbed burial
deposits. Its importance is enhanced by its location within a cairn group
containing a variety of different types of burial monument, demonstrating well
the diversity of burial practice during the Bronze Age.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Sharpe, A, The Minions Area Archaeological Survey and Management (Volume 2), (1989)
Other
consulted 3/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1411.06,
consulted 3/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1411.10,
Consulted 3/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1421,

Source: Historic England