Ancient Monuments

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One of several cairns south-west of Spurrell's Cross, Ugborough Moor

A Scheduled Monument in Harford, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4218 / 50°25'18"N

Longitude: -3.8915 / 3°53'29"W

OS Eastings: 265726.462038

OS Northings: 59701.082351

OS Grid: SX657597

Mapcode National: GBR Q9.2VGT

Mapcode Global: FRA 27QY.5QC

Entry Name: One of several cairns south-west of Spurrell's Cross, Ugborough Moor

Scheduled Date: 7 October 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012235

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10540

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, made of stone slabs. Some monuments also include
kerbstones marking the outer edge of the mound and a surrounding ditch.
This cairn is built of stone and earth, it is 4m in diameter and 0.7m
high and is turf covered.

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.
The several cairns south-west of Spurrell's Cross are well-preserved
examples and occupy a position on the brow of a hill. Their relationship to
other monuments of several types, including the Spurrell's Cross stone
alignment, 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)
Other
Devon County SMR (SX 65 NE 017),

Source: Historic England

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