Cist with a retaining kerb north-west of Corringdon Ball

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. Cists are small rectangular stone structures used for burial purposes and date to the Bronze Age. On Dartmoor they are made up of regular stone slabs forming a box-like structure sometimes topped by a larger coverstone. Short cists survive as free-standing monuments, with no enclosing stone and earth cairn. On Dartmoor cists are also associated with cairns, ring cairns and cairnfield groups, but these free-standing examples form a separate group in their own right. Their longevity, having been in use for a millennium or so, provides insight into the range of ceremonial and ritual practices of the contemporary farming communities. The Dartmoor examples provide one of the best preserved and most dense concentrations of this class of monument in south-western Britain and, as such, a high proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

This cist north-west of Corringdon Ball survives well and has potential for the recovery of archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. It lies close to a concentration of occupation evidence on Corringdon Ball and south of the major ceremonial and funerary complex at Glasscombe.

Details

This cist lies on a west-facing slope above Corringdon Leat, north-west of the summit of Corringdon Ball. A retaining kerb 5m in diameter, consisting of eight stones, surrounds the cist. The coverstone, which measures over a metre in length and width and up to 40cm in thickness, lies at an angle on top of slabs and stones which are set on edge, forming the cist.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

10780

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
SX 66 SE 150, (1991)

End of official list entry

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