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Cairn with a cist near the head of a southern tributary of Langcombe Brook

A Scheduled Monument in Sheepstor, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4786 / 50°28'43"N

Longitude: -3.9623 / 3°57'44"W

OS Eastings: 260863.060387

OS Northings: 66149.848132

OS Grid: SX608661

Mapcode National: GBR Q5.D7Z4

Mapcode Global: FRA 27LS.N4L

Entry Name: Cairn with a cist near the head of a southern tributary of Langcombe Brook

Scheduled Date: 2 December 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012286

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10674

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.2500-500 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 with a cist lies on a north-facing slope close to the head of a
southern tributary of Langcombe Brook, on its west bank. It consists of a
mound 7m in diameter and 0.4m in height, with part of its retaining kerb in
place, and a central cist. The cist retains both side stones, its southern
end stone and the coverstone. It is 1.2m in length, 0.5m in width and 0.3m
in depth. The coverstone lies over the northern end and western side of the
cist and is 1.5m in length and 0.9m in width. The western side slab is
unusual in that it is vein quartz.

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
This cairn is a well-preserved example with a cist. Its relationship to other
monuments indicates the wealth of evidence relating to the ritual side of
prehistoric life on this part of the Moor.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County SMR SX66NW-044,

Source: Historic England

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