Ancient Monuments

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Cairn to the east of Hangershell Rock

A Scheduled Monument in Harford, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4191 / 50°25'8"N

Longitude: -3.8923 / 3°53'32"W

OS Eastings: 265659.54704

OS Northings: 59402.947502

OS Grid: SX656594

Mapcode National: GBR Q9.31WR

Mapcode Global: FRA 27QY.CDL

Entry Name: Cairn to the east of Hangershell Rock

Scheduled Date: 7 October 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1013090

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10537

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Harford

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Church of England Parish: Ugborough St Peter

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 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. Some monuments also include kerbstones marking the outer
edge of the mound and surrounding ditch.
This cairn, to the east of Hangershell Rock, built of earth and stone, is 15
m. in diameter and 1.5 m. high, with a hollow in the centre. It lies close to
the Butterdon stone alignment.

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 of a large cairn and occupies a
prominent position on the brow of a hill in close association with the
Butterdon stone alignment, one of the longest alignments on the Moor. Its
relationship to other 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

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings' in Dartmoor Barrows, , Vol. 36, (1978), 172
Other
SX65NE-209,

Source: Historic England

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