Castallack Round or Roundago is a prehistoric site near Castallack in Cornwall, England. It is a scheduled monument.[1]

Castallack Round
Viewed from the south
Castallack Round is located in Cornwall
Castallack Round
Shown within Cornwall
LocationNear Castallack, Cornwall
Coordinates50°4′26″N 5°34′7″W / 50.07389°N 5.56861°W / 50.07389; -5.56861
OS grid referenceSW 448 254
TypeHillfort
History
PeriodsIron Age
Designated29 September 1972
Reference no.1004654

A "round" is a small circular embanked enclosure, with one entrance; they are common in Cornwall, and they date from the late Iron Age to the early post-Roman period.[1]

Description

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The site is near the summit of a ridge overlooking the Lamorna valley. Part of the rampart survives; it is composed of large stones and slabs, height about 1.6 metres (5 ft 3 in) and width 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in), forming an oval enclosure. There was originally a surrounding ditch. On the tithe map of 1840, the round is depicted as having a colonnade of stones leading from the entrance in the south to an inner circular enclosure; John Thomas Blight, describing it in 1865, found that these features had mostly disappeared.[1]

To the north-west of the round there are thick stone walls, height up to 0.9 metres (2 ft 11 in): the remains of a structure with an internal diameter of about 7.5 metres (25 ft). This is interpreted as a courtyard house, a type of building that developed in west Cornwall from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Historic England. "Round, courtyard house, stone hut circle settlement and field system 275m north of Castallack Carn (1004654)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 October 2021.