Details

The monument includes a prehistoric cairn cemetery on Shipman Head Down and
the adjacent trough of Great Bottom on the north of Bryher in the Isles of
Scilly. The scheduling also includes a later prehistoric field system which
subdivides parts of the eastern and southern flanks of Shipman Head Down and
rises to define larger areas on its plateau and western slopes.
The prehistoric cemetery contains at least 148 funerary cairns over much of
the Down's plateau and western slopes, extending north west across the trough
of Great Bottom. Some localised patterning is apparent within this overall
distribution, including linear groups along the crest of the Down's northern
scarp and the eastern crest of the Down's plateau; a denser scatter of cairns
in the overall spread extends onto the centre of the Down from behind Shipman
Head Well on the west coast. Almost all are platform cairns whose rubble
mounds, mostly 4m-8m in diameter, rise 0.2m-0.6m high to a flattened upper
surface, the platform. Four exceptions, categorised as small round cairns on
account of their shallow-domed profiles, may also have originated as platform
cairns whose appearance has been affected by vegetation growth and stone
robbing. In at least 111 cairns, the platform is defined by one of various
types of slab-built kerb; some kerb slabs are in a continuous row but more
frequently they are spaced apart, and they may be flat or edge-set, usually in
the range 0.1m-0.4m high. Fourteen platform cairns abut or include large
natural outcrops or boulders, forming a distinct subgroup strongly biased to
the north of the cemetery where they account for seven of the ten cairns in
Great Bottom; another three such cairns occur in the group along the Down's
north crest and the other four are located behind the Down's west coast.
Six cairns show good evidence for internal funerary structures. Three have a
slab-built box-like structure called a cist, visible as a subrectangular
hollow partly lined by edge-set slabs and with a north west-south east long
axis; they range from 1.3m-3m long and 0.75m-1.1m wide and occur in well-
separated cairns: one on the Down's northern scarp crest, another near the
west coast behind Shipman Head Well and a third on the north west crest of the
plateau's southern half. Three cairns show remains of larger funerary
chambers: two on the southern crest of the Down and the third on a natural
rise on the south of the Down's plateau. The westernmost on the southern crest
is in much the largest cairn in the cemetery, almost 25m in diameter and 1.5m
high, whose surface contains a large flat slab, 2.7m long, across the north
east end of a 3.5m long hollow indicating a chamber partly disrupted by
antiquarian excavation. A small kerbed cairn 100m to the ENE has a chamber at
least 3.9m long, north-south, by 1.1m wide, defined along the sides and
southern end by large edge-set slabs. The chamber in the cairn on the
plateau's southern rise is visible as two rows of slabs running north east-
south west across most of the cairn's 4.5m diameter platform and linked by a
tilted covering slab 1.3m long.
The prehistoric field system on Shipman Head Down is defined by turf-covered
rubble banks, generally 1.5m wide and 0.2m high. Where the banks roughly
follow the contour, on the Down's eastern and southern flanks, soil movement
down the slope transforms them into substantial steps called lynchets. Several
details show that the field system was created in a later prehistoric phase
than the cemetery and that it deliberately slighted many cairns. The banks
frequently pass along lines of cairns and sometimes alter course on cairns or
deviate slightly in their alignment in order to meet rather than pass by a
cairn. Where they cross cairns, banks often truncate one side of the cairn's
mound, and sometimes form a distinct ridge across the mound surface. A common
but not universal feature of the field system banks is their inclusion of
closely-spaced large slabs, often edge-set and frequently 0.3m-0.5m high. A
strong association exists between these large edge-set slabs and the points
where banks pass across cairns, the slabs often grouped as distinct clusters
at such locations, suggesting that the prominent slabs in the banks were drawn
from the underlying cairns, and probably their kerbs, again showing deliberate
slighting of the cairns and visually asserting the dominance of the field
system's land use of the Down over that of the earlier cairn cemetery.
The field system shows subdivision into areas of increasing size as it rises
onto the Down's plateau and western slopes from lower levels on the east and
south, defining areas of decreasing intensity of land use away from former
settlement foci on lower land east and south of Shipman Head Down.
At the lowest level, a coastal shelf at the south of the Down's east coast is
crossed by three downslope banks 15m-20m apart, with a fourth bank across the
slope at the south. This fine subdivision, truncated by the coastal cliff, is
a survival of a low-lying prehistoric field system in the now submerged basin
from Kitchen Porth to Hangman's Island.
At a higher level, banks follow the east, south and south east crests of the
Down's plateau, defining the upper boundaries of a zone of large prehistoric
fields on the Down's flanks. The eastern upper boundary extends 320m north
west-south east, crossing at least 21 cairns and terminating on outcrops at
each end; two banks run ENE from it, dividing the eastern slope into three
roughly 0.5ha blocks of usable land between areas of craggy outcrops. A
lynchetted bank marks off the lower end of the northern block. A similar
pattern, partly obscured by dense vegetation, is evident on the Down's
southern flank, where banks of a lower level of plots also survive, truncated
by modern enclosure to the south east. As the upper boundaries of the Down's
east and south crests converge to the south east, they define between them a
funnel-shaped area crossed north east-south west by the upper bank of two more
fields on the south east slope, about 90m and 50m wide respectively.
Beyond its flanks' upper boundaries, the Down is divided into three large
areas. The eastern 1.3ha is defined on the west by a bank 50m-75m beyond the
south east slope's upper boundary. From the midpoint of that bank, the rest of
the Down's plateau and western slope is divided in two by another bank running
WSW along the plateau crest south of Shipman Head Well.
The field system also contains three other prehistoric features. The northern
of the two fields on the south east slope contains an 8.5m line of spaced
slabs between two cairns. Situated 40m to the south west in the same field is
a circular stone setting, 5.75m in diameter, immediately adjacent to one of
the cemetery's cairns and defined by ten spaced slabs, mostly lying flat. The
third feature includes two short low rubble walls, about 18m apart, extending
north east from two cairns over-ridden by the east flank's upper boundary.
Beyond this scheduling, Castle Down, a similar upland area on the north of
adjacent island of Tresco, also contains a large prehistoric cairn cemetery
partly overlapped by multiple phases of prehistoric field system.

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.

This monument contains a good and very extensive survival of prehistoric
funerary and settlement remains, showing clearly the succession of land uses
applied to this elevated heathland terrain by prehistoric communities. The
scale of survival of the prehistoric remains on Shipman Head Down is
sufficiently extensive to allow significant insights into wider landscape
organisation during that early period. The cemetery contains one of the
largest and most concentrated groupings of prehistoric funerary cairns, whose
proximity and similarity to another such cemetery on the northern upland of
Tresco emphasises the importance of landforms in the physical organisation of
prehistoric funerary activity. This organisation is demonstrated in more
detail by the non-random distribution of the cemetery's cairns across Shipman
Head Down, particularly the emphases on scarp crests for linear cairn groups
within the cemetery, on locally prominent positions for its chambered cairns,
and northern grouping of cairns specifically focussed on natural features. The
prehistoric field system shows unusually clearly its successive relationship
with the cairn cemetery and by its slighting of so many cairns, it illustrates
the development of attitudes towards such earlier funerary methods. Its layout
again demonstrates strong influence from the underlying topography on
agricultural activities, while its pattern, with finer subdivision on lower
land to the east and south replaced by large land units on the plateau and to
the west, provides strong evidence for the nature of those activities and the
foci of the settlement sites it served.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Russell, V, Isles of Scilly Survey, (1980)
Sharpe, A, 'Cornish Archaeology' in Treryn Dinas: Cliff Castles Reconsidered, , Vol. 31, (1992), 65-68
Other
Parkes, C, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.16, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 and maplet for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279.01, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279.03, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279.04, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279.05, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279.06, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279.08, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279.10, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279.11, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279.12, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279.13, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7279.14, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7297.07, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.01, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.02, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.03, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.04, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.05, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.06, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.07, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.08, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.09, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.10, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.11, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.12, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.13, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.14, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.15, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.17, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.18, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.19, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.20, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.21, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.22, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.27, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.29, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7402.30, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7403, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.01, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.02, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.03, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.04, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.05, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.06, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.07, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.08, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.09, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.10, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.11, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.12, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.13, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.14, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.18, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.20, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.21, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.23, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.24, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7404.26, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.01, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.02, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.03, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.04, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.05, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.06, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.07, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.08, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.09, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.10, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.11, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7405.12, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7407.01, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7407.02, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7407.03, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7407.04, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7407.05, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7407.06, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7407.07, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7408.01, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7408.02, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7408.03, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7408.04, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7408.05, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7408.06, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7408.07, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7408.09, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7409.01, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7409.02, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7409.03, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7409.04, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.01, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.02, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.03, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.04, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.05, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.06, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.07, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.08, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.09, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.10, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.11, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.12, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.13, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.14, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.15, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.17, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.18, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.19, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.20, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.21, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.22, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.23, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.24, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.25, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.26, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.27, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.28, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.29, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.30, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.31, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.32, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.33, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.36, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.37, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.38, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.40, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7413.42, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7414.01, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR entry PRN 7414.02, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107 for Scilly SMR PRN 7648, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107s for Scilly SMR entries PRN 7362, 7362.01-.04, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107s for Scilly SMR PRNs 7279, 7402-5, 7407-9, 7413-4, 7648, (1988)
Parkes, C/CAU, AM 107s for Scilly SMR PRNs 7279,7362,7402-5,7407-9,7413-4,7648, (1988)
Title: 1:10000 Ordnance Survey Map, SV 81 NE and 1:2500 Ordnance Survey Map, SV 8715
Source Date: 1980
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: 1:10000 Ordnance Survey Map, SV 81 NE and 1:2500 Ordnance Survey Map, SV 8715
Source Date: 1980
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: 1:2500 Ordnance Survey Map, SV 8715
Source Date: 1980
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: 1:2500 Ordnance Survey Map; SV 81 NE
Source Date: 1980
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: 1:2500 Ordnance Survey Map; SV 8715
Source Date: 1980
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: 1:2500 Ordnance Survey Maps; SV 8715 & SV 8815
Source Date: 1980
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England