Details

This monument includes a 350m length of reave traversing the summit of
Hingston Hill. The reave survives as a 2m wide rubble bank standing up to
0.5m high which separates a group of ritual monuments from broadly
contemporary settlements and field systems, most of which are the subject of
separate schedulings. The northern part of the reave is orientated NNE to SSW
and turns to a north west to south east alignment along its southern length.
The purpose of this reave appears to have been to denote a boundary between a
rich ritual area containing at least three cairns, a stone alignment and
associated enclosure, from a large enclosed settlement, its fields and upland
grazing.

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.

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. Elaborate complexes of fields and
field boundaries are some of the major features of the Dartmoor landscape. The
reaves are part of an extensive system of prehistoric land division introduced
during the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They consist of simple linear stone
banks used to mark out discrete territories, some of which are tens of
kilometres in extent. The systems are defined by parallel, contour and
watershed reaves, dividing the lower land from the grazing zones of the higher
moor and defining the watersheds of adjacent river systems. Occupation sites
and funerary or ceremonial monuments are often incorporated in, or associated
with, reave complexes. Their longevity and their relationship with other
monument types provide important information on the diversity of social
organisation, land divisions and farming practices amongst prehistoric
communities. They show considerable longevity as a monument type, sometimes
surviving as fossilised examples in medieval field plans. They are an
important element in the existing landscape and, as such, a substantial
proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The 350m length of reave on Hingston Hill, 470m NNW of Combshead Tor survives
well and forms an integral part of a landscape containing both ritual and
domestic monuments. Information concerning the manner in which land was
allocated different uses during the Bronze Age may survive within this
feature.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX56NE492, (1986)
MPP fieldwork by S. Gerrard,
National Archaeological Record, SX56NE171,

Source: Historic England