Cist and associated mound in Langridge Wood, 410m north west of Treborough Lodge

Reasons for Designation

Exmoor is the most easterly of the three main upland areas in the south western peninsula of England. In contrast to the other two areas, Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, there has been no history of antiquarian research and little excavation of Exmoor monuments. However, survey work has confirmed a comparable richness of archaeological remains with evidence of human exploitation and occupation from the Mesolithic period to the present day. Cists are stone burial chambers and they are closely associated with the Bronze Age. They were constructed as stone-lined chambers into which an inhumation burial or cremation was inserted; a capstone was usually provided to seal the chamber. They are sometimes free-standing but were more often covered over with a mound of earth to form a barrow or piled over with stone to form a cairn. The cist and associated mound in Langridge Wood, 410m north west of Treborough Lodge is one of only seven cists to have been documented on Exmoor and one of two to survive. Despite the upper part of the mound having been removed in the early 19th century for road building, the cist itself remains intact apart from its displaced capstone and it provides visible evidence of Bronze Age burial practices. Its surviving mound will contain archaeological deposits and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a prehistoric stone-built cist and the remains of an associated earth mound located on the Brendon Hills. The cist is rectangular in plan and orientated from east to west at the base of an approximately circular mound which has been largely flattened. The interior of the cist is lined with slate slabs and its sides are 2m long, 0.75m wide, and up to 0.85m deep. A large irregular shaped slab with sides up to 1.6m long partially covers the open cist; this represents a now displaced capstone. The mound is composed of stone and earth and has a maximum diameter of 14m and a maximum height of 0.6m. The original profile of the mound has been obscured due to material being removed in the early 19th century for road building. The cist contained a human skeleton which was revealed during this stone removal in 1820; the remains were re-interred in nearby Treborough churchyard.

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:

35310

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Riley, H, Wilson-North, R, The Field Archaeology of Exmoor, (2001), 35
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of Somerset Archaelogical & Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 113, (1969), 42

End of official list entry

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