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Round barrow and round, 200m south west of Carrine

A Scheduled Monument in Kea, Cornwall

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.2461 / 50°14'46"N

Longitude: -5.1016 / 5°6'5"W

OS Eastings: 178959.890396

OS Northings: 43064.501524

OS Grid: SW789430

Mapcode National: GBR ZC.9M2B

Mapcode Global: FRA 086C.VP3

Entry Name: Round barrow and round, 200m south west of Carrine

Scheduled Date: 24 October 1972

Last Amended: 5 January 2001

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1019502

English Heritage Legacy ID: 32928

County: Cornwall

Civil Parish: Kea

Traditional County: Cornwall

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Cornwall

Church of England Parish: St Kea

Church of England Diocese: Truro

Details

The scheduling includes a prehistoric round barrow and a later prehistoric to
Romano-British round, situated on a slight south east slope on the shoulder of
a ridge north east of the Carnon River valley.
The barrow to the east of the round has a platform around its base, considered
to be an associated earthwork. This is sub-rectangular in plan, measuring
approximately 22.8m NNW-SSE by 17m ENE-WSW, and is defined on the west and
south sides by a scarp 0.6m-0.9m high. The barrow mound of earth and stone
situated towards the south west of the platform is sub-rectangular, measuring
approximately 17m NNW-SSE by 14m ENE-WSW. It has a nearly flat top 1.8m high,
with a further round mound approximately 7m in diameter and 1.2m high rising
from it on the SSE. The form of the whole is very regular and is considered to
be original, not resulting from robbing. The barrow is closely associated with
others beyond this scheduling, together forming a ridge-top barrow cemetery.
The round to the west is sub-circular in plan, measuring approximately 83m
east-west and 87m north-south externally. On the north, east and south sides,
it has stone faced boundary banks 2.5m-4m wide and 1.7m-2m high, considered to
incorporate remains of an original single enclosing bank with evidence for an
external ditch, visible to the south as a linear depression 3.5m wide and 0.5m
deep. To the west the enclosing bank is irregular and discontinuous as a
result of partial removal and spreading. It is 2m-8.5m wide and 0.2m-0.8m
high. Part of the external ditch is visible towards the south of this as an
irregular hollow some 11.5m long, 2.5m wide, and 0.1m-0.4m deep. The western
bank has a gap on the north side and another on the south, 4m and 5.5m wide
respectively, considered to be possible original entrances. The interior of
the round is fairly level, dipping slightly towards the enclosing banks. A
linear depression recorded to the south of the boundary bank attached to the
south east corner of the round is considered to be a short extension of the
external ditch on the south side of the round. The round has been associated
with early medieval legends, though these claims are unsubstantiated.
All modern farm machinery, gateposts and fittings, and telegraph poles, are
excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

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

Rounds are small embanked enclosures, one of a range of settlement types
dating to between the later Iron Age and the early post-Roman period. Usually
circular or oval, they have a single earth and rubble bank and an outer ditch,
with one entrance breaking the circuit.
Excavations have produced drystone supporting walls within the bank, paved or
cobbled entrance ways, post built gate structures, and remains of timber, turf
or stone built houses of oval or rectangular plan, often set around the inner
edge of the enclosing bank. Other evidence includes hearths, drains, gullies,
pits and rubbish middens. Evidence for industrial activities has been
recovered from some sites, including small scale metal working and, among the
domestic debris, items traded from distant sources. Some rounds are associated
with secondary enclosures, either abutting the round as an annexe or forming
an additional enclosure.
Rounds are viewed primarily as agricultural settlements, the equivalents of
farming hamlets. They were replaced by unenclosed settlement types by the 7th
century AD. Over 750 rounds are recorded in the British Isles, occurring in
areas bordering the Irish Seas, but confined in England to south west Devon
and especially Cornwall, where many more examples may await discovery. Most
recorded examples are sited on hillslopes and spurs.
Rounds are important as one of the major sources of information on settlement
and social organisation of the Iron Age and Roman periods in south west
England. Consequently, sites with significant surviving remains will normally
be considered to be of national importance.

The round barrow and round 200m south west of Carrine survive well. The round
remains substantially intact, despite limited relatively recent modification
of the surrounding bank. The old land surface underlying the bank, and remains
of buildings, structures, and other deposits associated with the bank and
external ditch, and with the interior, will survive. The barrow's mound and
outer platform also remain substantially intact, as will the underlying old
land surface and any surviving original deposits associated with the mound and
old land surface. The proximity of the two monuments which the respect of the
round's builders for the barrow suggested by the lack of evidence for robbing
its mound, and a possible association with early medieval legends, provides
important information about social organisation during the later prehistoric
and post-Roman periods respectively.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Padel, O J, Cornish placename elements, (1985), 53, 138
Henderson, C, 'Parochial Antiquities' in Parochial Antiquities, , Vol. 5, (1917), 130
McLauchlan, H, 'Annual Report of the Royal Institution of Cornwall' in Observations in some ancient camps and tumuli, (1848), 30-41
McLauchlan, H, 'Annual Report of the Royal Institution of Cornwall' in Observations in some ancient camps and tumuli, (1848)
Other
Letter 42, Thomas, R, Letter to the West Briton, (1842)
Padel, OJ to Preston-Jones, A, (1985)
Preston-Jones, A and Rose, P, Survey of the round and barrow at Goodern, 1985, Typescript at CAU
Preston-Jones, A, AM 107, (1990)
Title: Kea Tithe Apportionment
Source Date: 1840
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map
Source Date: 1880
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map
Source Date: 1907
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England

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