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Summary

A possible stone row protruding above the sand halfway along Par Beach, between high and low water.

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 15524: PREHISTORIC TO ROMANO-BRITISH RITUAL, FUNERARY AND SETTLEMENT REMAINS ON PAR BEACH, ST MARTIN'S

Other References/Statuses

• Heritage at Risk (National)
• National Monuments Record: SV 91 NW 121
• National Record of the Historic Environment to Historic Environment Records data transfer
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1180063
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 7660
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s):

• STONE ALIGNMENT (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 801 BC)

Full description

A possible stone row protruding above the sand halfway along Par Beach, St Martin's, between high and low water.

This site was planned and photographed by CAU during Sept 1989 (1) and in Sept 1990 it was photographed further (2). The row consists of three large slabs set roughly equidistant from each other in an east - west alignment and the overall length is 15m. In plan the three stones are of similar size and rectangular shape, but they protruded to varying heights above the surface of the beach in 1989, 0.35m - 0.83m. All the stones are visually impressive and appear to have been selected for their pleasing natural folds, cup-marks and grooves (1). The grid reference recorded by the CAU (SV9339 1533) does not align with later surveys (4, 5).

In September 1990 a pit was dug on the west side of the middle stone in the row (2, 3). This was dug to see whether the peat exposed further down the beach to the south (7661.01) extended up under the sand, and also to test the relationship between this peat and the stone row. Though the bottom of the metre deep pit was waterlogged, it was possible to identify the peat and the fact that it was level with the base of the stone but did not extend right up to it. Instead there appeared to be another stone here, perhaps a trig stone or a socketed stone, but further excavation is needed to clarify this point (2).

The site was visited and surveyed at 1:2500 scale by the RCHME in 1997 (4): Centred at SV9336815353. An alignment of three large unworked boulders occur on an east-west orientation. They lie just above the Mean High Water Line and are set in the gently sloping sandy beach. SV9336215354: a squarish slab 0.3m high, 1.2m broad and 0.3m thick. SV9336815353: a squarish slab 0.6m high, 1.35m broad and 0.45m thick. SV9337615354: a triangular-shaped slab 0.85m high, 1.2m broad at its base and 0.25m thick.

Surveyed in 2009 (5).

Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 198-, Drawing Archive, Hanging (GRH), GRE 39/13; GRH 123/10/1 (Cartographic materials). SCO5088.

<1> RATCLIFFE, J & PARKES, C, 1990, FIELDWORK IN SCILLY, SEPTEMBER 1989, 22 (Cornwall Event Report). SCO8946.

<2> Ratcliffe, J & Sharpe, A, 1990, Fieldwork in Scilly, Autumn 1990 (Cornwall Event Report). SCO4233.

<3> Ratcliffe, J & Straker, V, 1996, The Early Environment of Scilly - Palaeoenvironmental Assessment of cliff-face and intertidal deposits, 1989-1993, 20-22 (Cornwall Event Report). SCO1840.

<4> Field Investigator's Comments, RCHME/Fletcher, M 1997 (Survey). SCO29739.

<5> Johns C, 2014, The Lyonesse Project, Isles of Scilly: Project Design Rev 04 (Cornwall Event Report). SCO25995.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• ECO6332 - Isles of Scilly Inter-tidal Zone Survey Project, 1997
• ECO534 - Isles of Scilly Management, Sept 1989
• ECO536 - Isles of Scilly Management, Autumn 1990

Related records: none recorded

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