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Cairn south-east of Ringmoor Cottage

A Scheduled Monument in Sheepstor, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4778 / 50°28'40"N

Longitude: -4.0305 / 4°1'49"W

OS Eastings: 256024.664

OS Northings: 66190.911473

OS Grid: SX560661

Mapcode National: GBR Q1.T8K8

Mapcode Global: FRA 27FS.RL3

Entry Name: Cairn south-east of Ringmoor Cottage

Scheduled Date: 11 June 1965

Last Amended: 24 October 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012254

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10586

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Sheepstor

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 cairn lies on the brow of Ringmoor Down, approximately 90m north-west
of Eylesbarrow Reave. It is 21m in diameter and 0.7m in height, with a
hollow centre and an uneven surface, suggesting that it has been partly
disturbed. It lies within a hundred metres of another cairn and within a few
hundred metres of a stone row, cairns and an enclosure.

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.
Despite some disturbance, this is a well-preserved cairn and occupies a
prominent position on the brow of a hill and is close to a major watershed
reave. Its relationship to 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), 166
Other
Devon SMR, SX56NE-014,

Source: Historic England

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