Cairn with a cist east of Willings Walls 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 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. This cairn with a cist east of Willings Walls contour reave is a well- preserved example and occupies a significant position near the reave. Its relationship to other funerary monuments and to the reave indicates the wealth of evidence relating to the ritual side of Prehistoric life and to land use on this part of the Moor.

Details

Many examples of Prehistoric funerary monuments are preserved on Dartmoor, mostly dating to the Bronze Age (c.2500-500 BC). To celebrate or commemorate the dead, mounds of earth or stone were piled in a roughly hemispherical shape over the burial, which was sometimes contained in a small rectangular structure or cist, made of stone slabs. Some monuments also include kerbstones marking the outer edge of the mound or a surrounding ditch. This cairn with a cist lies about 40m east of Willings Walls contour reave on a north-facing slope above the south side of the valley of the River Plym. It consists of a low mound with a cist within a retaining kerb, which is constructed with large slabs. The cist is oriented south-east/north-west. All the side and end slabs are present, but the end slabs have partially fallen inwards; the capstone is displaced to the north-east. The side slabs are 1.7m and 1.8m in length and the end slabs 0.8m and 0.9m in length. The end slabs are positioned inside the side slabs and the depth of the cist is 0.5m. The capstone is 2.3m in length and 1.3m in width and 0.4m in thickness. The mound is 5m in diameter and up to 0.2m in height. The nine retaining kerbstones are up to 1m in height and there is a possible second outer kerb of small boulders. This cairn lies some 130m south-east of another cairn on the other side of Willings Walls Reave.

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:

10649

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. in Dartmoor Barrows (0305 5795), Vol. 36, (1978), 163

Other
Devon County SMR SX56NE-024, Devon County SMR SX56NE-024,

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