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Cairn adjacent to the south side of Eylesbarrow Reave

A Scheduled Monument in Sheepstor, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4837 / 50°29'1"N

Longitude: -4.0167 / 4°0'59"W

OS Eastings: 257024.025127

OS Northings: 66819.866689

OS Grid: SX570668

Mapcode National: GBR Q2.ZS3M

Mapcode Global: FRA 27GS.BYR

Entry Name: Cairn adjacent to the south side of Eylesbarrow Reave

Scheduled Date: 16 October 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012281

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10583

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 is situated on the brow of a spur extending west from Gutter Tor
and lies immediately next to the south side of Eylesbarrow Reave. It is 17m
in diameter and 0.3m in height and there are traces of a retaining circle
within the mound, which has been partly disturbed. It lies within 400m of
several other cairns on Ringmoor Down associated with the reave.

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 cairn occupies a prominent position on the brow of a hill and is
adjacent to a major reave, suggesting that it was a notable landmark
connected with this formal division of the Moor in the Bronze Age. Its
relationship to other cairns also indicates the wealth of evidence relating
to the ritual side of life on this part of the Moor.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon SMR, SX56NE-493,

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

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