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. Cists are small rectangular stone
structures used for burial purposes and date to the Bronze Age. On Dartmoor
they are made up of regular stone slabs forming a box-like structure sometimes
topped by a larger coverstone. Short cists survive as free-standing monuments,
with no enclosing stone and earth cairn. On Dartmoor cists are also associated
with cairns, ring cairns and cairnfield groups, but these free-standing
examples form a separate group in their own right. Their longevity, having
been in use for a millennium or so, provides insight into the range of
ceremonial and ritual practices of the contemporary farming communities. The
Dartmoor examples provide one of the best preserved and most dense
concentrations of this class of monument in south-western Britain and, as
such, a high proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of
protection.
Details
The monument includes a prehistoric enclosure and cairn with cist situated
on an east facing slope overlooking the valley of the East Dart River. The
enclosure survives as a D-shaped area denoted by a rubble wall measuring
between 3.5m and 5m wide and standing up to 0.6m high. The interior of the
enclosure measures 114m east-west by 102m north-south and contains at
least seven structures, some of which may represent the remains of stone
hut circles. The enclosure wall is surmounted by a post-medieval drystone
wall standing up to 1.6m high and a post-medieval leat or drain which cuts
through the northern part of the enclosure.
Adjacent to the north western side of the enclosure is a cairn containing
a cist. The cairn survives as a 5.5m diameter stony mound standing up to
0.8m high. A large cist denoted by seven edge slabs stands within the
mound and measures 1.5m long by 1.2m wide and 0.7m deep. The cist is
orientated NNE-SSW and is covered by two large slabs. The present form of
the cist is the result of restoration work carried out by Robert Burnard,
whose 1893 excavation revealed two small flint flakes and some burnt
bones. A number of large edge stones around the western, southern and
eastern sides of the cist represent a kerb.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
34491
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
