Ancient Monuments

History on the Ground

This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.

Cairn near summit of Ugborough Beacon

A Scheduled Monument in Ugborough, Devon

We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.

Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4167 / 50°24'59"N

Longitude: -3.8769 / 3°52'36"W

OS Eastings: 266748.316778

OS Northings: 59105.150731

OS Grid: SX667591

Mapcode National: GBR Q9.3CTB

Mapcode Global: FRA 27RY.KFN

Entry Name: Cairn near summit of Ugborough Beacon

Scheduled Date: 10 October 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012243

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10604

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Ugborough

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Church of England Parish: Ugborough St Peter

Church of England Diocese: Exeter

Details

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 cairn, situated very close to the summit of Ugborough Beacon,
incorporates part of a granite outcrop in its structure. It consists of a
rock and earth base surmounted by a mound of stones built up around the
outcrop. It is 22m in diameter and 1.5m high. Visitors have repositioned
some of the stones of the mound to form shelters.

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 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.
This large cairn is a well preserved example which occupies a prominent
position on the summit of a hill, visible for a considerable distance, at
the southern edge of the Moor. 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

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings' in Dartmoor Barrows, , Vol. 36, (1978)
Other
Devon County SMR (SX 65 NE 004),

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

AncientMonuments.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact AncientMonuments.uk for any queries related to any individual ancient or schedued monument, planning permission related to scheduled monuments or the scheduling process itself.

AncientMonuments.uk is a Good Stuff website.