Ballowall Barrow or Carn Gluze

Ballowall is a prehistoric cairn which incorporates other phases of use in the Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age periods. It is located on Ballowall Common on the cliff top south of St Just. The barrow is 72 feet in diameter and is a protected Scheduled Monument.

Our visit

The wind was really strong when we visited this site. The coastal views from Cape Cornwall were magnificent. The site of Ballowall Barrow is beside the clifftop road. The monument in total has diameters of 21.4m and 20.4m. The top of the central cairn is missing but it stands at 2.7m high and when built, could have been nearly 2m higher.

There is a large chamber within a cone shaped cairn. In this central chamber is a ritual pit. This chamber is surrounded by a later cairn-ring. There is a smaller chamber of the east side with a pit. There are cists between the central cairn and the collar. On the outside of the collar is an entrance grave with two capstones. Craig Weatherhill in his book 'Cornovia' says "This large, complex and multi-phase monument is unique." It is definitely a place of great significance and we would recommend a visit to the site.