Ancient Monuments

History on the Ground

This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.

Cairn south-east of Higher Piles

A Scheduled Monument in Harford, Devon

We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.

Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4342 / 50°26'3"N

Longitude: -3.9037 / 3°54'13"W

OS Eastings: 264895.000749

OS Northings: 61103.523493

OS Grid: SX648611

Mapcode National: GBR Q7.W4Z5

Mapcode Global: FRA 27QX.10L

Entry Name: Cairn south-east of Higher Piles

Scheduled Date: 25 October 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1013212

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10525

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Harford

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 a 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, 200m. south of Piles Gate, is 6m. in diameter and 0.7m. high
and covered by turf and whortleberry. There are traces of a retaining kerb on
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 the later industrial remains, gives significant insights into successive
changes in the pattern of land use through time.
This is a well-preserved example on the hillside in an area of concentrated
settlement. Its relationship to other monuments of the same type also
indicates the wealth of evidence relating to the ritual side of Prehistoric
life on this part of the Moor.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
SX66SW-149,

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

AncientMonuments.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact AncientMonuments.uk for any queries related to any individual ancient or schedued monument, planning permission related to scheduled monuments or the scheduling process itself.

AncientMonuments.uk is a Good Stuff website.