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Stone setting (retaining kerb of a cairn) north-east of Brisworthy Plantation

A Scheduled Monument in Meavy, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4756 / 50°28'32"N

Longitude: -4.0286 / 4°1'42"W

OS Eastings: 256153.635333

OS Northings: 65936.922415

OS Grid: SX561659

Mapcode National: GBR Q1.TH0J

Mapcode Global: FRA 27GS.SFB

Entry Name: Stone setting (retaining kerb of a cairn) north-east of Brisworthy Plantation

Scheduled Date: 16 October 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012248

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10592

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Meavy

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

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 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 surrounding ditch.
This stone setting is probably the retaining kerb of a cairn, it is 4m in
diameter and consists of fourteen stones up to a maximum height of 0.55m.
The stones are of quartz-schorl, rather than the more usual granite. There
is a slight hollow in the centre of the setting, though no remains of a
mound survive.

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 is a
well-preserved example of a retaining kerb of a cairn, incorporating an
unusual constructional rock-type. The monument occupies a prominent position
on Ringmoor Down and its association with other monuments indicates the
wealth of evidence relating to the ritual side of 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
SX 56 NE 034,

Source: Historic England

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