Cairn on Corndon Tor

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1003289
Date first listed:: 03-Jul-1964

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1003289
Date first listed:: 03-Jul-1964

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Devon
District:: Teignbridge (District Authority)
Parish:: Widecombe in the Moor
National Park:: DARTMOOR
National Grid Reference:: SX 68580 74222

Summary

A round cairn on Corndon Tor within the Dartmeet coaxial field system.

Reasons for Designation

Dartmoor is the largest expanse of open moorland in southern Britain and, because of exceptional conditions of preservation, it is also one of the most complete examples of an upland relict landscape in the whole country. The great wealth and diversity of archaeological remains provide direct evidence for human exploitation of the Moor from the early prehistoric period onwards. The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, major land boundaries, trackways, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains, gives significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time.

Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, the latter predominating in areas of upland Britain where such raw materials were locally available in abundance. Round cairns may cover single or multiple burials and are sometimes surrounded by an outer ditch. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major visual element in the modern landscape. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. Dartmoor provides one of the best preserved and most dense concentrations of round cairns in south-western Britain.

Despite partial early excavation the round cairn on Corndon Tor within the Dartmeet coaxial field system survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological end environmental evidence relating to its construction, funerary use and landscape context.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 5 November 2015. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes a round cairn situated on the summit of Corndon Tor within the Dartmeet coaxial field system. The round cairn survives as a circular stony mound measuring up to 27.5m in diameter and 2.5m high and incorporates some of the rocky outcrop from the tor. It has been subject to partial excavation in the 1820’s, when a group of 50 or so holiday makers and locals searched it and found ‘a pot or two’.

Further archaeological remains survive within the vicinity some are scheduled but others are not included because they have not been formally assessed.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: DV 530
Legacy System:: RSM - OCN

Sources

Books and journals
Butler, J, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, (1991)

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.