Ancient Monuments

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Cairn near summit of Brent Fore Hill

A Scheduled Monument in South Brent, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4443 / 50°26'39"N

Longitude: -3.8851 / 3°53'6"W

OS Eastings: 266246.320569

OS Northings: 62190.090847

OS Grid: SX662621

Mapcode National: GBR Q9.1HRG

Mapcode Global: FRA 27RW.88B

Entry Name: Cairn near summit of Brent Fore Hill

Scheduled Date: 6 December 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1013028

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10575

County: Devon

Civil Parish: South Brent

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Church of England Parish: South Brent St Petroc

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). 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 a surrounding ditch. This cairn lies
approximately 100m north-west of the summit of Brent Fore Hill, slightly to
the north-east of the summit ridge. It is a small heather-covered mound 5m in
diameter and up to 0.5m in height with a hollow in the centre leading in from
the west side.

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 is a well-preserved example and occupies a prominent position on
the summit of Brent Fore Hill. Its relationship to other burial and
ceremonial monuments indicates the wealth of evidence relating to the ritual
side of prehistoric life on this part of the Moor.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County SMR SX 66 SE 147,

Source: Historic England

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