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Ring cairn 460m south-west of White Hill summit, forming part of the White Hill round cairn cemetery

A Scheduled Monument in Lydford, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.6342 / 50°38'3"N

Longitude: -4.0808 / 4°4'50"W

OS Eastings: 252942.241336

OS Northings: 83680.375459

OS Grid: SX529836

Mapcode National: GBR NZ.9FMR

Mapcode Global: FRA 27BD.J03

Entry Name: Ring cairn 460m south-west of White Hill summit, forming part of the White Hill round cairn cemetery

Scheduled Date: 23 July 1963

Last Amended: 29 September 1993

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1011449

English Heritage Legacy ID: 20341

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Lydford

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Details

This monument includes a ring cairn situated on a gentle west-facing slope
overlooking Willsworthy Army Camp. The earthwork appears as a raised internal
platform measuring 15m in diameter surrounded by a circular bank 3.5m wide and
0.5m high. A shallow hollow in the centre of the internal area suggests
robbing or partial early excavation. This cairn forms part of the White Hill
round cairn cemetery.

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. A ring cairn is a prehistoric ritual
monument comprising a circular bank of stones up to 20m in diameter
surrounding a hollow central area. The bank may be kerbed on the inside, and
sometimes on the outside as well, with small uprights or laid boulders. Ring
cairns are found mainly in upland areas of England and are mostly discovered
and authenticated by ground level fieldwork and survey, although a few are
large enough to be visible on aerial photographs. They often occur in pairs or
small groups of up to four examples. Occasionally they lie within round barrow
cemeteries. Ring cairns are interpreted as ritual monuments of Early and
Middle Bronze Age date. The exact nature of the rituals concerned is not fully
understood, but excavation has revealed pits, some containing burials and
others containing charcoal and pottery, taken to indicate feasting activities
associated with the burial rituals. Many areas of upland have not yet been
surveyed in detail and the number of ring cairns in England is not accurately
known. However, available evidence indicates a population of between 250 and
500 examples. As a relatively rare class of monument exhibiting considerable
variation in form, all positively identified examples retaining significant
archaeological deposits are considered worthy of preservation.

Despite evidence for partial excavation, the ring cairn 460m south-west of
White Hill summit survives comparatively well and forms part of the White Hill
round cairn cemetery which includes three ring cairns and nine round cairns.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Butler, J, 'Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities' in Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities - The North, , Vol. 2, (1991), 106-7
Grinsell, L V, 'Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings' in Dartmoor Barrows, , Vol. 36, (1978), 159
Other
Darvill, T C, Single Monument Class Description - Ring Cairns, (1989)

Source: Historic England

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