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Cairn forming part of the cairnfield on the western slope of White Hill

A Scheduled Monument in Lydford, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.6353 / 50°38'7"N

Longitude: -4.085 / 4°5'6"W

OS Eastings: 252646.873215

OS Northings: 83807.53593

OS Grid: SX526838

Mapcode National: GBR NZ.96K5

Mapcode Global: FRA 27BD.8CP

Entry Name: Cairn forming part of the cairnfield on the western slope of White Hill

Scheduled Date: 18 March 1965

Last Amended: 29 January 1993

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1007544

English Heritage Legacy ID: 20367

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Lydford

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Details

This monument includes a cairn situated on a gentle west facing slope
overlooking Lydford village. The cairn mound is ovoid in shape, is orientated
north to south and measures 3m long, 2.5m wide and stands up to 0.2m high.
This cairn forms part of a cairnfield, including twenty-six mounds and a
lynchet.

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,
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. Cairnfields are concentrations of three or
more cairns sited within close proximity to one another; they may consist of
burial cairns or cairns built with stone cleared from the land surface
(clearance cairns). Round funerary cairns were constructed during the Bronze
Age (c.2000-700 BC) and consisted of earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes
ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major visual element in the modern landscape. The
considerable variation in the size of cairnfields and their longevity as a
monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and
social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are
particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of
surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite evidence for partial excavation of some of the cairns, the cairnfield
on the western slope of White Hill, to which this cairn belongs, survives well
and contains archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the
monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. The lynchet and the
field defined by the clearance cairns provide a valuable insight into Bronze
Age agricultural activity.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Fleming, A, 'Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings' in The Cairnfields of North-West Dartmoor, , Vol. 38, (1980), 9 - 12
Other
Raymond, F, Single Monument Class Description - Cairnfields, (1987)

Source: Historic England

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