Porth Hellick Down Burial Chamber, St Marys, Isles of Scilly
Porth Hellick Down Burial Chamber is a Bronze Age entrance grave (tomb). Its mound is c12 metres in diameter. The internal chamber is 3.5 metres by 1.5 metres wide and 1 metre high. It is roofed by four large stone slabs (capstones). They are 2.5 metres long by 1.25 metres wide. In 1899 a partial excavation was carried out on the site by George Bonsor. This was after an unrecorded antiquarian excavation and it was the first excavation in Scilly to be documented in detail. It revealed fragments of decorated Bronze Age pottery and a piece of pumice stone, though much of the material is likely to have been removed by the earlier excavation. The site was later restored by the Ministry of Works, it is now in the care of English Heritage (2010). Find out more.
