Reasons for Designation
Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been
recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The
Moor has been the subject of detailed archaeological survey and is one of the
best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes
of prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date provide direct evidence for
human exploitation of the Moor from the earliest prehistoric period onwards.
The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites,
field-systems, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial
remains provides significant insights into successive changes in the pattern
of land use through time.
House platforms are one of several known types of settlement site dating from
the Neolithic to the Romano-British periods (from c.3000 BC to c.AD 400).
Individual house platforms may be dated by excavation or by their association
with other monuments of known date. They consist of levelled stances,
variously circular, ovoid or sub-rectangular in shape, on which rectangular or
circular buildings were constructed. The timber uprights forming the frames of
the buildings have not survived, but excavations have revealed their post-
holes and associated domestic debris. Where they occur in stony areas, rubble
cleared from the platforms may be simply pushed to the edges of each stance or
aggregated to form a rough wall.
House platforms may occur singly or in groups, and in the open or enclosed by
a boulder and rubble wall. House platforms may also form an element contained
within hillforts dating to the Neolithic and Iron Age periods. At least 20
house platforms are known from Bodmin Moor, a figure which is expected to
increase with future recognition and which forms an important sub-group of the
national total.
This house platform on Roughtor has survived well, without excavation or any
other visible or recorded disturbance. Its proximity to the Neolithic hilltop
enclosure on Roughtor, itself containing numerous house platforms, provides a
rare and valuable insight into the complex nature of settlement in the earlier
prehistoric period. Its presence near Bronze Age and medieval settlements and
field systems demonstrates well the development of land use on this remote
hillside during and since the prehistoric period.
Details
The monument includes a small prehistoric house platform situated on the upper
south-east slope of Roughtor on north-west Bodmin Moor.
The house platform is visible as a small, oval, cleared and levelled internal
area measuring 4.25m east-west by 2.2m north-south, defined along its northern
side by the face of a natural granite outcrop and around its other sides by a
slight wall of rubble cleared to the edges of the interior and roughly heaped
onto the surrounding natural surface boulders of this densely scree-strewn
slope. The rough walling survives up to 1.3m wide and 0.7m high.
This house platform is situated near the centre of a more dispersed group,
including at least ten similar house platforms, which extends beyond this
monument for up to 70m south-west and 68m north-east along the slope. The
walls of a broadly contemporary, Neolithic hilltop enclosure, containing
numerous house platforms, are located 50m north of this monument on the summit
of Roughtor, while extensive Bronze Age and medieval settlement sites and
field systems are situated on the lower slopes of Roughtor, 125m to the south.
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.
