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Cairn with a cist, one of several cairns on Lee Moor

A Scheduled Monument in Shaugh Prior, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4617 / 50°27'42"N

Longitude: -3.9937 / 3°59'37"W

OS Eastings: 258588.17555

OS Northings: 64334.124827

OS Grid: SX585643

Mapcode National: GBR Q3.1CYF

Mapcode Global: FRA 27JT.V8N

Entry Name: Cairn with a cist, one of several cairns on Lee Moor

Scheduled Date: 27 November 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012042

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10640

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Shaugh Prior

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 (2500 - 500 BC). 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 with a cist lies on a west-facing slope at the western end of Lee
Moor, close to another cairn and is one of several on this part of Lee Moor.
It consists of a mound 3m in diameter and 0.5m in height in an area with a
lot of surface boulders. The cist is situated immediately to the east of a
very large boulder, both side and ends slabs are present, the north and
south sides are at an angle, but the coverstone is missing. The cist is 1.3m
in length and 1m in width and is 0.4m in depth. There are traces of a
possible retaining kerb.

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.
Although the capstone is missing, this cairn with a cist is a relatively well-
preserved example. Its relationship to other cairns indicates the wealth of
evidence relating to the ritual side of life on this part of the Moor.

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

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