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.
This well preserved cairn, along with its three near neighbours, occupies a
position by a waterhole on the lower ground between two hills. Its
relationship and that of of its near neighbours, to other monuments of the
same type, the cairn groups on Butterdon Hill and Western Beacon in
particular, indicates the wealth of evidence relating to the ritual side of
prehistoric life 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 and a surrounding ditch.
This is one of four cairns at the waterhole of Black Pool, in the valley
between Butterdon Hill and Western Beacon. The cairn lies south of Black
Pool. It is oval in shape, 16m long by 12m across and 0.7m high and is
constructed of earth and stone and now turf covered. The hollow in the
centre suggests that it may have been disturbed in the past.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
10607
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
