Details

The monument comprises a circular funerary cairn, part of a linear cairn group
near the summit of Caradon Hill on SE Bodmin Moor.
The cairn survives as a circular mound, 18m diameter and up to 0.75m high,
composed of heaped small and medium sized stones visible in breaks in the turf
cover. The surface of the cairn shows some slight hollows from relatively
recent stone-robbing but, with one exception, these are both of limited extent
and depth. This exception is a pit, 4m long by 2m wide, dug 1m deep into
the SW edge of the cairn to expose a large ground-set boulder from which one
end was subsequently split away by drilling. Beyond that peripheral pit, the
body of the cairn remains substantially intact, as will any funerary deposits
associated with it. This cairn has been surveyed on several occasions since
1907 but has never been subject to any recorded archaeological excavation. It
lies towards the SW end of a linear cairn group which extends NE-SW along the
SW side of the hill's summit and contains ten recorded 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 such cairns 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, or within 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 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 Caradon Hill has never been excavated and survives substantially intact.
Its importance is enhanced by its location within a cairn group which
contains a variety of different types of burial monument, demonstrating well
the diversity of burial practice during the Bronze Age.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
3/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1409.04 and .12,
AM 7 scheduling description and maplet for CO 541d, Consulted 3/1991
Consulted 3/1991, Carter, A/RCHME, 1:2500 Air Photo Transcripton: SX 2770 (Consulted 3/1991),
Consulted 3/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1409.08,
Consulted 3/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1409.10,
Title: Ordnance Survey 6": 1 mile Map: Cornwall XXVIII
Source Date: 1907
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England