Ancient Monuments

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One of a group of three cairns on Ringmoor Down

A Scheduled Monument in Sheepstor, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4785 / 50°28'42"N

Longitude: -4.0265 / 4°1'35"W

OS Eastings: 256312.615557

OS Northings: 66258.610833

OS Grid: SX563662

Mapcode National: GBR Q1.T9K0

Mapcode Global: FRA 27GS.M5Q

Entry Name: One of a group of three cairns on Ringmoor Down

Scheduled Date: 18 October 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012087

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10668

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Sheepstor

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.2500-500BC). 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 one of a group of three on Ringmoor Down, which lie on the
south-east facing slope within 40m south-east of Eylesbarrow watershed reave
and 250m of Ringmoor Down stone alignment. It is a mound of stone and earth
8m in diameter and 0.4m in height, with a possible retaining kerb and a
slightly hollow centre.

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, one of a group of three on Ringmoor Down, is a well-preserved
example. Its relationship to other monuments indicates the wealth of
evidence relating to the ritual and economic sides of Prehistoric life on
this part of the Moor.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County SMR SX56NE-354,

Source: Historic England

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