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Beacon on Belland Moor 770m north east of Belland

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1020609
Date first listed:: 11-Dec-2001

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1020609
Date first listed:: 11-Dec-2001

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Devon
District:: Torridge (District Authority)
Parish:: Tetcott
National Grid Reference:: SX 36000 97016

Reasons for Designation

Beacons were fires deliberately lit to give a warning, by means of smoke by day and flame by night, of the approach of hostile forces. They were always sited in prominent positions, usually as part of a group, chain or line which together made up a comprehensive early warning system covering most of the country. Beacons were extensively used during the medieval period. Their use was formalised by 1325 and although some were used later, for example at the time of Monmouth's Rebellion in 1685 or during the Napoleonic wars, the system was in decay by the mid-17th century. Beacons were initially bonfires of wood or furze, but later barrels of pitch or iron fire baskets mounted on poles were used. The poles were occasionally set on earthen mounds. Access to the fire basket was by way of rungs set in the pole, or by a stone ladder set against the beacon. More unusual beacon types include stone enclosures and towers, mainly found in the north and south west of England. Some beacon sites utilised existing buildings such as church towers. Beacons were built throughout England, with the greatest density along the south coast and the border with Scotland. Although approximately 500 are recorded nationally, few survive in the form of visible remains. Many sites are only known from place-name evidence. Given the rarity of recorded examples, all positively identified beacons with significant surviving archaeological remains are considered to be of national importance.

Despite reduction in its height through cultivation, and its having been crossed by a track at some time, the beacon 770m north of Belland survives comparatively well and will contain both archaeological and environmental information relating to the monument and its surrounding landscape.

Details

This monument includes a beacon just below the summit of a high ridge forming the watershed between valleys of tributaries to Lana Lake and Henford Water. The monument survives as a low circular mound which measures 20.9m in diameter and up to 0.5m high. There is a linear depression across the centre which crosses the mound in an approximately east to west direction and measures up to 4m wide and a maximum of 0.2m deep. This is probably the remains of a track which cut across the field.

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:: 34274
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX39NE3, (1983)

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.