Caradon Hill (southern group)

Nearest town:
Liskeard (6km SSW)
OS reference:
SX270702
OS sheet:
201
Latitude:
50° 30' 19.41 N
Longitude:
4° 26' 23.95 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

The centre of the cairn at SX 26833 70162. Although it looks like remains of a central chamber, it’s probably the natural arrangement of tor and clitter.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

The cairn at SX 26833 70162, on the southwestern edge of the group. It’s built around a granite outcrop.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

The huge cairn at SX 26852 70058 from the northwest. Although it looks like a ring cairn, the centre is full of stone but it’s turfed over.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

The cairn at SX 26852 70058, the southernmost in the group and at 23m across the biggest on the hill.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

Kerbing and cairn material on the eastern side of the tor cairn at SX 26966 70186.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

Detail of the kerb and cairn material of the tor cairn at SX 26966 70186.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

The tor cairn at SX 26966 70186, the most unusual of the monuments on Caradon Hill. A kerb of edge-set slabs surrounds most of the granite outcrop in the centre.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

Quartz block exposed in the centre of the cairn at SX 26976 70323.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

Smaller, centrally disturbed cairn at SX 26976 70323, on the western edge of the group.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

The cairn at SX 26988 70283. The centre is a little damaged, but this is a fine example of an upland cairn.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

Excellent cairn at SX 26988 70283, looking over the western slopes of the hill.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

Looking north across the big cairn at SX 27085 70314 towards the summit. The nearest cairns of the northern group are around the masts.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

Massive cairn at SX 27085 70314, standing over 2m tall and the best part of 20m across.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

Neat cairn at SX 27208 70282, towards the northeastern edge of the group.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

The relatively small cairn at SX 27260 70284, the easternmost in the group. It enjoys extensive views east and southeast. The hill over to the left is Kit Hill. Behind that the edge of Dartmoor fills the skyline.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

The top of the cairn at SX 27115 70385. Difficult to see for the blue on blue, but the sea near Looe can be seen on the horizon.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018
Image of Caradon Hill (southern group) (Barrow / Cairn Cemetery) by thesweetcheat

The round cairn at SX 27115 70385, the northernmost in the group. Looking south.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 24, 2018

Articles

Miscellaneous

Caradon Hill (southern group)
Barrow / Cairn Cemetery
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Sep 21, 2018

Scattered group of 9 Bronze Age round cairns located on the southern slopes of Caradon Hill.

Details of the cairns from the National Heritage List For England, generally northeast to southwest:

Round cairn 310m west of Heather House (SX 27260 70284)

The cairn survives with a low sub-circular mound measuring up to 16.5m north west-south east by 14.1m north east-south west, the mound slightly truncated along its north east edge by a ditch accompanying a substantial post-medieval wall which passes 1m beyond the cairn’s visible edge, following the line of a medieval manorial and parish boundary. The cairn’s mound has a low, shallow-domed profile, up to 0.9m high, but relatively recent small-scale quarrying for wall stone has produced an uneven surface with several rounded hollows running in from the edges of the mound.

Round cairn with peripheral berm 402m SSW of Caradon Hill summit (SX 27115 70385)

The cairn survives as a circular mound, 21m in diameter and up to 2m high, of heaped small stones; around the SW and W sectors a distinct ledge, or berm, 0.5m wide, is visible in the mound’s periphery at a height of 0.3m. Some stone extraction has occurred in the relatively recent past, resulting in a lowering of the cairn’s interior in the E and S sectors but not reaching the base of the cairn, and in its N half the cairn survives undisturbed to full height as a consolidated turf-covered mound.

Round cairn 472m SSW of Caradon Hill summit (SX 27208 70282)

The cairn survives as a well-preserved circular turf-covered mound, 11.5m in diameter and 1m high, composed of heaped small to medium-sized stones. The mound rises to a flattened upper surface 7m in diameter and has survived essentially intact.

Round cairn 480m SSW of Caradon Hill summit (SX 27085 70314)

The cairn survives as a circular mound, largely turf-covered, 18.5m in diameter and up to 2.25m high, of heaped small to medium-sized stones, with occasional larger stones up to 1m long. Some relatively recent stone- quarrying is evident as limited depressions up to 1m deep in the N half of the cairn’s central area.

Round cairn 527m SSW of Caradon Hill summit (SX 26976 70323)

The cairn survives as a circular mound, largely turf-covered, 11m in diameter and up to 1.75m high, of heaped small to medium sized stones. Some stone extraction has occurred in the relatively recent past, removing stones from the central 2-3m diameter area and the SSE side of the cairn, but leaving the remainder of the cairn’s mound intact and well-consolidated.

Round cairn 557m SSW of Caradon Hill summit (SX 26988 70283)

The cairn survives as a circular mound, 16.5m in diameter and up to 1.5m high, of heaped small to medium sized stones. Some stone extraction has occurred in the relatively recent past, removing stones from the central area and hollowing it to a maximum depth of c.0.75m, but leaving the remainder of the cairn’s mound intact and well-consolidated.

Tor cairn with adjacent sub-rectangular hut 650m SSW of Caradon Hill summit (SX 26966 70186)

The monument includes an ovoid tor cairn with a peripheral bank and kerb, and a later sub-rectangular hut adjoining the cairn’s S edge.

The tor cairn survives as a low ovoid bank, measuring 34m NE-SW by 27m NW-SE externally, 2-3m wide and up to 0.5m high, composed of heaped small to medium sized stones. The bank’s inner edge is defined by a row of edge- and end-set boulders and slabs up to 1m high forming a distinct kerb around the N, E and S sides. Within the kerb is an almost level surface covering a thin platform, of compacted and largely turf-covered small to medium stones. The cairn’s platform surrounds a natural granite outcrop, 22m long and rising to 2.5m above the neighbouring land on the crest of the spur, forming a clear natural spine along the cairn’s long axis. The outcrop comprises weathered slabs, tilted to the SE with a scarp along its NW edge, and widens from 3m at the NE end to 11m at the SW. The cairn platform is represented on the outcrop’s upper face by a discontinuous thin layer of compacted small stones. The S edge of the cairn’s bank and platform has been modified by the insertion of a sub-rectangular hut of a form typical of early medieval stock herders’ huts on Bodmin Moor. Externally the hut measures 6m N-S by 5m E-W, with rubble walls 1.5m thick and 0.5m high, probably of stone robbed from the cairn. No certain entrance is visible.

Round cairn 740m SSW of Caradon Hill summit (SX 26833 70162)

The monument comprises a round cairn on and around a natural rock outcrop.

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.

Round cairn and shelters 812m SSW of Caradon Hill summit (SX 26852 70058)

The monument comprises a large circular funerary cairn with two small shelters scooped into one side, at the SW end of a linear cairn group.

The cairn survives as a large circular mound, 23m in diameter and up to 2m high, of heaped stones varying in size from small pebbles to small boulders up to 1m across. Some stone extraction has occurred in the relatively recent past, removing stone from the NNW side of the cairn, extending to the mound’s centre, but leaving the remainder of the cairn’s mound intact. The surface beneath the area from which stone has been removed retains well-consolidated stone of the cairn mound, 0.4m above the external ground level, and is largely turf-covered. In the E and SE sides of the cairn are two small scoops in the stone rubble content of the mound, each 3m in diameter and 0.75m deep, separated by a very coarsely-built drystone wall. Such structures are typical of short-term shelters for medieval and post-medieval workers on the moor.

Sites within 20km of Caradon Hill (southern group)

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