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Latitude: 50.423 / 50°25'22"N
Longitude: -3.8878 / 3°53'16"W
OS Eastings: 265993.632127
OS Northings: 59828.110376
OS Grid: SX659598
Mapcode National: GBR Q9.2WJZ
Mapcode Global: FRA 27RX.TDR
Entry Name: Cairn south of Spurrell's Cross, Ugborough Moor
Scheduled Date: 7 October 1991
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1012234
English Heritage Legacy ID: 10541
County: Devon
Civil Parish: South Brent
Traditional County: Devon
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon
Church of England Parish: Ugborough St Peter
Church of England Diocese: Exeter
Many examples of prehistoric funerary monuments are preserved on Dartmoor,
mostly dating to the Bronze Age (c.2500-500 BC). To celebrate or commemorate
the dead, mounds of earth or stone were piled in a roughly hemispherical
shape over the burial, which was sometimes contained in a small rectangular
structure, or cist, made of stone slabs. Some monuments also include
kerbstones marking the outer edge of the mound and a surrounding ditch.
This medium sized cairn is one of a group of monuments on a hill south of
Spurrell's Cross, it lies about 130 m. south-east of the cross, is built of
stone and earth and is 13 m. in diameter and 0.8 m. high, with a hollow in
the centre, suggesting that it has been robbed in the past.
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
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 provides 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.
Despite some disturbance, this medium sized cairn is a well-preserved
example and occupies a prominent position on the brow of a hill, forming
part of a series of similar cairns on hilltops along the eastern side of the
Erme Valley. Its relationship to other monuments of several types indicates
the wealth of evidence relating to the ritual side of prehistoric life on
this part of the Moor.
Source: Historic England
Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings' in Dartmoor Barrows, , Vol. 36, (1978)
Other
Devon County SMR (SX 65 NE 015),
Source: Historic England
Other nearby scheduled monuments