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Cairn 800m ENE of Big Pond

A Scheduled Monument in Shaugh Prior, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4534 / 50°27'12"N

Longitude: -3.9969 / 3°59'49"W

OS Eastings: 258331.468653

OS Northings: 63407.863799

OS Grid: SX583634

Mapcode National: GBR Q3.1YZ9

Mapcode Global: FRA 27JV.LNX

Entry Name: Cairn 800m ENE of Big Pond

Scheduled Date: 5 January 2001

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012630

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10799

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Shaugh Prior

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Details

This cairn lies on the south west facing slope of Lee Moor south of Cross Dyke
reave and south west of Cholwich Town contour reave. It consists of a mound
8m in diameter and 0.5m in height, with a high proportion of stone in its
make up. It has a hollow in its east side. The cairn lies west of several
enclosures and stone hut circles which are the subject of separate
schedulings.

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 provide 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. Round cairns are prehistoric funerary
monuments dating to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They were constructed as
earthen or rubble mounds, the latter predominating in areas of upland Britain
where such raw materials were locally available in abundance. Round cairns may
cover single or multiple burials and are sometimes surrounded by an outer
ditch. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major visual element in
the modern landscape. Their considerable variation in form and longevity as a
monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and
social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are
particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of
surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. Dartmoor provides one
of the best preserved and most dense concentrations of round cairns in south-
western Britain.

Despite some disturbance, the cairn 800m ENE of Big Pond survives well in an
area containing numerous monuments relating to settlement, land use and burial
in the Bronze Age period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
SX 56 SE 083,

Source: Historic England

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