Beacon Hill Round Barrows

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Monument.

The monument comprises the remains of four earthen built round barrows, which probably date to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC). The barrows are aligned roughly west-north-west to east-south-east along the summit of Beacon Hill and are spaced between 60 and 95m apart. They are broadly circular in shape on plan and have rounded profiles with rather flattened tops. The most north-westerly (A) is slightly oval, measuring c.25m east-west by c.21m and c.1.6m high. The next (B), c.95m to its south-east, is of similar dimensions but slightly higher at 1.7m; it is surmounted by an OS trig pillar. There are faint traces of an old disturbance on the SE side. The next barrow (C) lies c.70m to the east-south-east of barrow B, and is c.21m in diameter and c.1.4m high. The most south-easterly of the group (D) lies a further c.60m to the south-east of barrow C. It is c.21.5m in diameter and c.1.4m high, with a noticeably flat top c.12m in diameter.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The features are an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retain significant archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of both intact ritual and burial deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. Barrows may be part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.