See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Prehistoric ring cairn on Crownhill Down of 6.0 metres diameter by 0.7 metres high utilised as a boundary marker in Prehistoric and Medieval times.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 439309
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/129
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX56SE71

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• RING CAIRN (Constructed, Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Triangle shown at this location on 19th century map.

Royal Air Force, 1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2494, RAF/CPE/UK/2494 RS 4064-4065 11-MAR-1948 (Aerial Photograph). SDV361461.

The site of the cairn is obscured from view by dense scrub vegetation.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX56SE71 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV343503.

A probable cairn on Crownhill Down 20 feet (6.1 metres) diameter and 2 feet (0.61 metres) high. It could be part of the adjoining boundary bank.

Edwards, C., 1979, An archaeological survey of an area surrounding Hemerdon Ball (Report - Survey). SDV337241.

Site visited on 15th May 1979. Seven large stones on the crest of a hillock on Crownhill Down form a rough circle with a probable cairn in the centre. Utilised as a boundary marker during Prehistoric and Medieval periods as shown by the field boundary running north to south.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, SX56SE (Cartographic). SDV336987.

Not recorded on the 1985 interpretation.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 194-6, 214, Map 52, Figures 52.16 & 52.16.1 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Crownhill Summit carn at SX57486025 of 6.0 metres diameter by 0.7 metres high. It has been dug into on one side and surrounded by an outer ring of blocks, two only remaining in place. This cairn was the focus of a pair of reaves originating on the nearby field system.

National Monuments Record, 2002, 439309 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV343505.

Cairn set on a high point with distant views in most directions. In dense gorse and comprising an amorphous mound 0.5 metres high enclosed by an incomplete ring of boulders. Six boulders up to 0.4 metres high are earth fast and others lie where they were deposited.
There seems no reason to suppose that these are not an original feature. A boundary work, probably a parallel reave 1.3 metres wide and 0.4 metres high, (ditched in Medieval or later times?), makes a distinct detour to join the cairn.

Fletcher, M., 2002, The Archaeological Landscape of Crownhill Down and Ridding Down: Survey Report, 4 (Report - Survey). SDV343412.

Other details: Figure 3 and Crownhill Down Survey.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5760 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

A roughly circular mound is identifiable as a subtle earthwork.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2021, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

The site of the cairn is obscured from view by dense scrub vegetation on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards.
A roughly circular mound is, however, identifiable as a subtle earthwork up to circa 6m in diameter on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013.

Ordnance Survey, 2022, Mastermap 2022 (Cartographic). SDV364674.

'Cairn Circle' shown on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4559 - Archaeological Landscape of Crownhill Down and Riddding Down
• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.