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Summary

Round cairn on the summit of Great Gnat's Head of 12 metres in diameter by 0.6 metres high with a possible retaining kerb. The interior of the cairn has been disturbed and robbed to a depth of 0.3 metres. A conical walkers cairn occupies the south-west quadrant -composed of small boulders and slabs it measures 2.6 metres in diameter and 1.5 metres high. The cairn lies within an extensive area of commercial peat cutting.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1015740: Round cairn on the summit of Great Gnat's Head

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66NW2
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 441568
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66NW/71
• Old SAM Ref: 10751

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ROUND 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.

'Tumulus' shown on 19th century map.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX66NW2 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV144647.

(07/06/1950) (SX 61666791) A turf covered cairn surmounted by a small cone of stones. Diameter of cairn, 12.5m, height 0.6m.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 162, Shaugh Prior no. 2 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(18/09/1974) Mutilated cairn crowned by stone heap. Diameter 12.0m, height 0.6m.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1978, SX66NW2 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV144646.

(12/09/1978) A flattish cairn, 12.0m in overall diameter and 0.6m high, turf covered except in the centre where an area 5.0m across has been dug into to create a modern cairn 2.5m in diameter and 1.7m high. See photograph.
Surveyed at 1:10000 on PFD.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, Aerial Photograph Project (Dartmoor) - Dartmoor Pre-NMP (Cartographic). SDV319854.

Not visible on 1946/7 aerial photographs.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 140513 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(02/06/1996) Round cairn forming part of a dispersed group of funerary monuments. The cairn mound measures 12m in diameter, stands up to 0.6m high and its edge is denoted in places by edge set stones indicating the presence of a kerb. A modern stone pile sits on the centre of the cairn.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 155, 212, Map 50 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Great Gnats' Head Summit cairn at SX 61656790 of 10.0 metres diameter by 0.5 metres high. Below the modern stone heap at the centre much of its structure appears to be intact. A kerb surrounds its base and interior stones were carefully arranged to slope at an angle towards the centre.

Thackray, C., 1994, The Upper Plym Valley: the management of an historic landscape, 306/102.1202 (Report - non-specific). SDV143510.

Probert, S. A. J. + Fletcher, M. J., 2002, Plym Valley survey (Report - Survey). SDV350782.

(22/08/2001) A disturbed cairn set on a slight rise on a rounded highpoint at 46.9m above OD with panoramic vistas in every direction. It measures 8.5m in diameter and the stoney outer slope is 0.3m high; some low upright slabs could be part of a low retaining kerb. The interior of the cairn has been disturbed and robbed to a depth of 0.3m. A conical walkers cairn occupies the SW quadrant -composed of small boulders and slabs it measures 2.6m in diameter and 1.5m high. The cairn lies within an extensive area of commercial peat cutting.

English Heritage, 2005-2008, Prehistoric Survey Information (Cartographic). SDV345521.

Cairn shown on survey.

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

'Cairn' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1015740 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

This monument includes a round cairn situated on the summit of Great Gnat's Head overlooking the valley of the River Plym. The cairn forms part of a dispersed group of funerary monuments. The cairn mound measures 12 metres in diameter, stands up to 0.6 metres high and its edge is denoted in places by edge set stones indicating the presence of a kerb. A modern stone pile sitting on the centre of the cairn is excluded from the monument.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8148 - The Upper Plym Valley: The Management of an Historic Landscape

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