Details

The monument includes a prehistoric enclosure in the inter-tidal zone south
east of a slight bulge in the coastline called The Brow at the southern end of
Green Bay on eastern Bryher in the Isles of Scilly.
The enclosure walling survives as an almost continuous row of boulders and
slabs, to 1.1m long, 1m wide and 0.9m high, some of which are edge-set. The
walls define a subrectangular interior measuring 27m long, north west - south
east, by up to 8m wide. The wall across the south east end of the enclosure
has a gap 1.3m wide beside the southern corner. From this gap, two slighter
boulder walls run for a further 22m following parallel courses, 2m apart,
initially to the south east then curving down the slight gradient to the ESE,
defining a prehistoric trackway linking the enclosure with the pre-submergence
valley floor. The enclosure's visible north western extent is determined by
the points at which its walls become masked beneath a raised band of beach
cobbles that extends into the middle shore from The Brow.
This enclosure and its adjacent trackway form the southerly known exposure of
an extensive area of prehistoric land division in the now-submerged zone of
Green Bay. Other exposures beyond this scheduling include a field system and
linear boundary in the central and northern parts of the bay, from 200m to the
north west of this scheduling, which are separated by areas whose prehistoric
land surface is now largely masked by the shore sand and shingle overburden.
Other broadly contemporary features in the vicinity of this scheduling include
hut circles in the inter-tidal zone, 50m to the south west, and exposed in the
cliff face on the east coast of Samson Hill, 115m to the SSW. The summit of
Samson Hill, overlooking this scheduling from the south west, contains a
prehistoric cairn cemetery. The inter-tidal remains which include this
scheduling in Green Bay are complemented on the south west coast of Bryher by
another prehistoric field system and settlement surviving in Great Porth and
extending over the Heathy Hill promontory. These archaeological features are
the subjects of separate schedulings.

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

The Isles of Scilly, the westernmost of the granite masses of south west
England, contain a remarkable abundance and variety of archaeological remains
from over 4000 years of human activity. The remote physical setting of the
islands, over 40km beyond the mainland in the approaches to the English
Channel, has lent a distinctive character to those remains, producing many
unusual features important for our broader understanding of the social
development of early communities.
Throughout the human occupation there has been a gradual submergence of the
islands' land area, providing a stimulus to change in the environment and its
exploitation. This process has produced evidence for responses to such change
against an independent time-scale, promoting integrated studies of
archaeological, environmental and linguistic aspects of the islands'
settlement.
The islands' archaeological remains demonstrate clearly the gradually
expanding size and range of contacts of their communities. By the post-
medieval period (from AD 1540), the islands occupied a nationally strategic
location, resulting in an important concentration of defensive works
reflecting the development of fortification methods and technology from the
mid 16th to the 20th centuries. An important and unusual range of post-
medieval monuments also reflects the islands' position as a formidable hazard
for the nation's shipping in the western approaches.
The exceptional preservation of the archaeological remains on the islands has
long been recognised, producing an unusually full and detailed body of
documentation, including several recent surveys.

Within the landscape of the Isles of Scilly there are many discrete plots of
land enclosed by stone walls or banks of stone and earth. From their various
environmental settings, associations and distinctive manners of construction,
they can be shown to derive from a range of activities dating over the
considerable period from the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC) to the present day.
They were commonly constructed as stock pens or as protected areas for crop
growing, sometimes accommodating settlement sites within or adjacent to their
walls. In some cases enclosures form detached field plots complementing nearby
field systems by extending the enclosed land into isolated pockets of usable
ground. The size and form of enclosures may therefore vary considerably
depending on their particular date and function. This variation in form,
setting and relationship to other monument classes provides valuable
information on the organisation of economic activity and land division among
the communities that built and used them. Of those enclosures not maintained
by virtue of remaining currently in use, a substantial proportion are worthy
of protection.
This enclosure near The Brow survives well; the upper shore deposits affecting
its north western end overlie and preserve its structure rather than disrupt
it. Its form and mode of construction are clear and it is unusual in
preserving its direct association with a contemporary trackway. Its extensive
survival well into the inter-tidal zone, despite rising sea levels, confirms
its long term stability against a considerable period of submergence. It
complements the prehistoric field system and settlement survivals at various
levels around southern Bryher to provide an unusually complete view of
prehistoric land allotment across the altitude range into the now-submerged
zone. Consequently this enclosure is important for the study of prehistoric
land-use responses to island environments. The proximity of the enclosure to
the cairn cemetery on Samson Hill also demonstrates the relationship between
farming, funerary and ritual activities among the prehistoric communities that
used this monument.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Ratcliffe, J, Sharpe, A CAU, Fieldwork in Scilly Autumn 1990, (1991)
Other
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7305, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7386, (1988)
Ratcliffe, J/CAU, Scilly SMR entries PRN 7307.01 & 7682, (1991)
Title: 1:2500 Ordnance Survey Maps; SV 8714 & 8814
Source Date: 1980
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England