Summary

A kerbed cairn with cist within a coaxial field system on Wigford Down 530m WNW of Lower Cadworthy Farm.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 9 November 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes a kerbed cairn with cist situated within a coaxial field system on the south eastern side of Wigford Down, overlooking the Plym Valley. The kerbed cairn survives as a circular stony mound measuring up to 8.23m in diameter and 0.8m high. A retaining kerb is visible to the south as a 0.6m high arc of large stones with an internal diameter of approximately 7m. This disappears to the north as the cairn is overlain by an intersection of two prehistoric field boundaries. The central cist is also visible, as a stone lined rectangular feature partly obscured by the displaced coverstone. It measures up to 1.1m long by 0.8m wide and 0.7m deep. The cairn had been subject to an earlier excavation but was re-examined by Worth in 1900 and two fragments of late Bronze Age pottery were recovered.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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. Round cairns are prehistoric funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, the latter predominating in areas of upland Britain where such raw materials were locally available in abundance. Round cairns may cover single or multiple burials and are sometimes surrounded by an outer ditch. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major visual element in the modern landscape. Their considerable variation in form, for example some are defined with outer retaining kerbs and internal features and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period. Dartmoor provides one of the best preserved and most dense concentrations of round cairns in south-western Britain. 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. They are often associated with cairns, ring cairns and cairnfield groups. Despite partial early excavation and re-examination the kerbed cairn with cist within a coaxial field system on Wigford Down 530m WNW of Lower Cadworthy Farm survives well. It is especially interesting because it appears to have been deliberately and unusually overlain by a prehistoric field system, possibly forming a focal point in its layout. The cairn will contain important archaeological evidence relating to the important relationship between the burial cairn and the superimposed field system, its construction, use, funerary practices and also information concerning the climatic landscape context.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Butler, J, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, Volume Three - The South-West , (1994)
Other
PastScape Monument No:-439547

Source: Historic England