Part of Eylesbarrow watershed reave

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 provides 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.

Elaborate complexes of fields and field boundaries are some of the major features of the Dartmoor landscape. The reaves are part of an extensive system of prehistoric land division introduced during the Bronze Age, around 1700BC. They consist of simple linear stone banks used to mark out discrete territories, some of which are tens of kilometres in extent. The systems are defined by parallel, contour and watershed reaves, dividing the lower land from the grazing zones of the higher moor and defining the watersheds of adjacent river systems. Occupation sites and funerary or ceremonial monuments are often incorporated in, or associated with, reave complexes. Their longevity and their relationship with other monument types provides important information on the diversity of social organisation, land divisions and farming practices amongst prehistoric communities. They show considerable longevity as a monument type, sometimes surviving as fossilised examples in medieval field plans. They are an important element in the existing landscape and, as such, a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Eylesbarrow watershed reave is a major reave within the complex of reaves on south-western Dartmoor.

Details

Eylesbarrow watershed reave can be traced from Cadworthy Wood to Eylesbarrow, a distance of some 7.5km, separating the watershed of the River Plym from that of the River Meavy. This part runs up the slope of Eylesbarrow for some 300m from a gap in its course to the summit, where it terminates. The reave is a bank of grass-covered stones from 3m to 5m in width and up to 0.75m in height, with some large stones protruding.

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:

10738

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Fleming, A, The Dartmoor Reaves, (1988)

Other
SX56NE-278, SX56NE-278, (1990)

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