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Summary

Cairn north of the prehistoric settlement at Tory Brookhead on Lee Moor. The large cairn of 26 metres by 24 metres and 1.2 metres high was investigated in the later 19th century when it was interpreted as the remains of huts, a chambered cairn or a large cairn with inserted shelters. The mound is visible on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards, visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013 and digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2016.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1013423: Four round cairns 1060m south east of Great Trowlesworthy Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE35
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439208
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/11
• Old SAM County Ref: 581

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

'Tumulus' shown on 19th century map.

Worth, R. N., 1890, A hut cluster on Dartmoor, 237 (Article in Serial). SDV139142.

Shell Top. A chambered cairn. Externally an oval pile of small stones, internally a series of chambers were formed by dry walling, portions still intact to the height of 1.68 metres. No trace of roofing. There are five intact chambers with traces of two others. There is an entrance by a passage about 1.52 metres wide, opening in a kind of horn projecting lengthwise on the south-east of the longer diameter. The passage continues in a straight line, curves to the right and enlarges into a small rounded chamber. From the curved part of the passage four chambers open to the left, two smaller chambers open off a passage at an angle to the main passage. No trace of access to the other chambers, there may have been another side passage to the left, too ruinous now to determine.

Rowe, S., 1896, A Perambulation of the Forest of Dartmoor, 56-7 (Monograph). SDV249697.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'Chambered Hut' shown on early 20th century map.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, Devon County Council RAF/CPE/UK/1890 2293 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX56SE35, Plan (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV139141.

(23/08/1977) SX 58666349: This cairn lies on a well drained south west facing slope at 325m. above OD. It is slightly irregular in plan, being on average 22.5m. in diameter and from 0.6m. high on the upper side to 1.8m. high on the lower side. The centre is much disturbed, with many hollows, up to 1.0m. deep, which have been interpreted as chambers by R. N. Worth (1890, Vol 22, pg 23-239) but are most probably modern windbreak shelters.
1:10 000 Survey on PFD.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Visited on 7th May 1976. Shown on early 20th century map as 'Chambered Hut', an anomalous site which contained internal passages and four chambers of original or later date? Cain 24.0 metres by 18.0 metres.

Mercer, R., 1982-1986, Upper Plym Valley Survey (Archive - Survey). SDV356119.

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

Not recorded.

Griffiths, D. M. + Robinson, R., 1986, Cairn on Lee Moor (Report - Survey). SDV154443.

Visited on 19th May 1988. Plan made of replica hut circle. Turf replaced, timber removed and store walls demolished on site, leaving new cairn next to existing one (ie stones not replaced onto existing cairn). Two low cairns next to larger one, not more than 2 metres diameter and 0.1 metres high, not recorded by Edinburgh University.

Griffiths, D., 1988, Cairn on Lee Moor (Worksheet). SDV139146.

Dartmoor National Park reported early in 1987 that the cairn here had been partially robbed and the stone used to build a hut circle nearby.
Visited in November 1987. Small replica hut circle circa 3 metres diameter (externally) with 'porch', constructed with stone walls circa 1.2 metres wide by 1.5 metres high. Timber branches have been brought in, and turf cut from nearby to make roof.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 133468 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Visited on 18/5/1994. Round cairn survives as a 26 metre by 24 metre by 1.2 metre high, stony mound with several hollows dug into its surface. Investigated by Worth in the latter part of the 19th century and this work revealed a small number of stone-lined chambers, which were identified as huts. In more recent years this mound has been seen as a possible chambered cairn, although it is more likely that it represents a large round cairn into which later shelters have been inserted. A band of rushes around the north and eastern edge of the cairn may represent the site of a buried ditch from which construction material was quarried.
Lies in close proximity to three further mounds which are probably broadly contemporary.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 166-9, Map 51, Figure 51.9 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Tory Brookhead Cairn '3' at SX58676350 of 25 metres by 18 metres and 1.4 metres high is a large oval mass of small stones so badly disfigured in the last few decades that there is probably nothing of its original structure left.

Thackray, C., 1994, The Upper Plym Valley: the management of an historic landscape, 120-1. (Report - non-specific). SDV143510.

National Trust and English Heritage, 1994, The Upper Plym Valley: The Management of an Historic Landscape, 5 (Report - non-specific). SDV166309.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5863 31-MAY-2016 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

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

Cairn shown on survey.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5863 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

A mound is identifiable as an earthwork.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 2015-2017, 2015-2017 Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV361462.

Visible on aerial photograph.

Google, 2019, Google Earth Pro, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM XX-XXX-2002 ACCESSED 14-OCT-2019 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363088.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2020, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

An irregularly shaped stony mound is visible as an earthwork up to circa 23m across on aerial photographs of 1946 on the south-west facing slopes of Lee Moor.
The mound is interpreted as the remains of a large cairn of Bronze Age date.
The mound remains clearly identifiable on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013 and digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2016.

Ordnance Survey, 2021, MasterMap 2021 (Cartographic). SDV364015.

Southern of two 'Cairns' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1013423 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

The largest cairn survives as a 26 metres long by 24 metres wide and 1.2 metres high, stony mound with several hollows dug into its surface. This cairn was investigated by Worth in the latter part of the 19th century and this work revealed a small number of stone lined chambers, which were identified as huts. In more recent years this mound has been seen as a possible chambered cairn, although it is more likely that it represents a large round cairn into which later shelters have been inserted. A band of rushes around the northern and eastern edge of the cairn may represent the site of a buried ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the mound.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8148 - The Upper Plym Valley: The Management of an Historic Landscape
• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

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