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. They have important implications for
studying Prehistoric land divisions and communal systems of land-holding,
not just in this region but also nationally. Eylesbarrow Reave is a major
watershed reave in the South Moor system.
Details
The Dartmoor reaves are part of a highly elaborate and extensive system of
Prehistoric land division, introduced some time around 1700 BC. The reaves
consist of simple linear stone and earth banks used to mark out discrete
territories, some of which are tens of kilometres in area. The systems are
defined by parallel, contour and watershed reaves, dividing the lower land
from the grazing zones of the higher moor.
Eylesbarrow Reave is a watershed reave which separates the watershed of the
Plym from that of the Meavy, it extends from the Plym at Cadworthy Wood to
the summit of Eylesbarrow, a distance of approximately 6km. Though the reave
can be traced from end to end, there are now gaps along its length which
result in its preservation in separate sections of unequal length. This
section forms a dog-leg which runs through clitter across the lower north-
west slope of Gutter Tor. It is 160m in length and is separated by a gap
of c.70m from the section to the south-west, on the north slope of Ringmoor
Down, and by a gap of nearly 600m to the north-east, as it crosses the
valley of Sheepstor Brook and the northern end of Gutter Mire. It is
traceable through the clitter as a low bank of earth and stone up to 0.4m in
height and 2.5m in width, there are some larger upright stones marking its
course through the heaviest clitter.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
10626
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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.
End of official list entry
