Ballowall Barrow

Visitor Guide

Ballowall Barrow rewards a slow, close look rather than a quick glance. From a distance it can appear as little more than a low grassy mound, but on approach the complexity of its construction becomes clear: overlapping chambers, small stone cists and a retaining kerb wall, built up in more than one phase over a long period of use. Visitors should look for the way later building work appears to have deliberately incorporated and reused earlier structures, rather than sweeping them away — a pattern that makes Ballowall unusual even among Cornwall's rich collection of Bronze Age burial monuments.

The clifftop setting is central to the experience. Ballowall stands above Ballowall Common near Carn Gloose, with open views along the coast towards Cape Cornwall and, on a clear day, out to the Longships Lighthouse off Land's End. This is one of the most exposed stretches of the Cornish coast, and the barrow's builders clearly chose a prominent, visible position rather than a sheltered one — a decision that has puzzled and interested archaeologists for well over a century.

Allow around twenty to thirty minutes for a visit, longer if combined with a walk along the adjoining coast path. There is no set route around the monument, so visitors are free to walk around its perimeter and view the chambers from the paths that cross the open common. Because there are no barriers, sturdy footwear is useful, and care should be taken around the loose stonework, particularly with young children.

Weather can change quickly on this exposed part of the coast, and there is no shelter of any kind at the site, so it is worth checking conditions before setting out, especially outside the summer months. Combined with a walk to Cape Cornwall or a visit to nearby Geevor Tin Mine, Ballowall Barrow makes a memorable and easy addition to a day exploring the far west of Cornwall.

History

Ballowall Barrow is one of the most structurally complex Bronze Age funerary monuments in Cornwall. Rather than a single mound built in one episode, it appears to have developed over successive phases, with earlier burial chambers and cists incorporated into later additions and retaining walls. This layering makes it difficult to assign the barrow to a single precise date within the Bronze Age, but its overall form and the burial practices it represents place it broadly within the second millennium BC, a period when communities across West Penwith were building enduring stone monuments to mark the resting places of the dead.

The barrow's position, on exposed cliff-top ground above Ballowall Common near Carn Gloose, is itself significant. Many Cornish barrows of this period occupy prominent locations, visible from the surrounding landscape and sea, suggesting they were intended as lasting markers within the territory of the communities who built them rather than as hidden or private burial places. The dramatic Atlantic views from the site would have made it a conspicuous landmark for anyone travelling along this stretch of coast in prehistory, much as it remains today.

Antiquarian interest in Ballowall Barrow dates back to the 19th century, when the site was investigated by William Copeland Borlase, a member of the well-known Cornish antiquarian family, in 1878. His excavation revealed the monument's unusual, multi-phase structure, distinguishing it from the simpler burial mounds more commonly found elsewhere in the county. As with much Victorian-era archaeology, the process of excavation itself altered parts of the barrow's original appearance, and later scholars have had to interpret Borlase's findings alongside the physical evidence that survives on the ground today.

Modern conservation has focused on protecting the surviving structure from further erosion, weathering and uncontrolled access, while keeping the complex arrangement of chambers legible to visitors. Ballowall Barrow is now a scheduled monument in the care of English Heritage, forming part of the wider prehistoric landscape of West Penwith that includes nearby settlements such as Carn Euny and Chysauster, and the many cairns, barrows and field systems that survive across this corner of Cornwall.

Important Features

• Multi-phase entrance grave: a rare example of a Bronze Age barrow built and extended in more than one episode, rather than a single simple mound.
• Burial chambers and cists: several stone-lined chambers survive within the structure, reflecting its long and complex use.
• Retaining kerb wall: stonework defining the edge of the monument and helping to hold its structure together.
• Clifftop setting: a prominent, exposed position above Ballowall Common, with sweeping Atlantic views.
• 1878 excavation: investigated by antiquarian William Copeland Borlase, whose work revealed the barrow's unusual complexity.
• Part of the West Penwith prehistoric landscape: one of a dense cluster of Bronze Age and Iron Age sites across far-west Cornwall.

Visitor Information

Things to Do Nearby

Frequently Asked Questions

Official English Heritage Site

For the latest access information, events and any temporary restrictions, check the official English Heritage page for Ballowall Barrow before you travel.

Visit the official English Heritage website