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Summary

Rook Reave, also known as the Penn Beacon Reave / Rock Reave, has been recorded by field and aerial survey as an earthwork bank approximately 820m long, following the south-facing ridge of Penn Moor southwards from Shell Top to Penn Beacon. The bank is clearly identifiable on aerial photographs of 1989 and visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013. This site is included in the local list of Nationally Important Dartmoor sites.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1017399: Cholwich Town contour reave, cairn and two enclosures
• SHINE: Cholwich Town, Penn Beacon and Shell Top Reaves. Earthworks of Bronze Age boundary works with adjacent prehistoric enclosures and hut circles, cairns and stone rows

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE81
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439335
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/108

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• REAVE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, 2292-93 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1963, Monuments Threatened or Destroyed, 1956-62, 14 (Un-published). SDV83845.

Fleming, A. + Collis, J. + Jones, R. L., 1973, A Late Prehistoric Reave System near Cholwich Town, Dartmoor, 9,10 figs 1,4,5 (Article in Serial). SDV358808.

Known length: 930 m. Start of wall: SX 60006184, End of wall: SX 59926280.
The reave runs approximately north-south from Penn Beacon down the spur towards Rook Tor, where it disappears into a modern field system at SX 601618. The reave has two phases on construction, north and south of the junction with Cholwich Town Reave. It is aligned directly on Penn Beacon, and continues further north as Shell Top Reave.
For the first 30 m. from the base point at the south end there is no sign of the reave, and up to 55 m. the stones are greatly scattered due to extensive robbing for the construction of the modern field boundaries. The exact alignment of the reave on to the corner of the modern enclosure is highly suggestive that originally the reave ran further to the south and was subsequently used for the line of the enclosure, but there is no sign of it under the modern wall. From 55 m. the reave appears as a strong stone bank, though it has been robbed in places and occasionally virtually disappears, as between 160 and 175 m., and 208 and 238 m. Some of the large stones which form the reave in this stretch show signs of drilling and splitting. There are kinks and dog-legs between straight lengths at 105 m., 180 m., and at 590 m., suggesting separate groups of builders working on slightly different alignments. The bank is low and consists of small stones from 240 m., but stone size and dimensions of the bank tend to increase toward the junction with Cholwich Town Reave.
Along this stretch the reave follows the bottom of a slight hollow, and visibility on either side is only some 200 m., but around 325 m. it starts running along the hollow's eastern flank. Here there is a hint of soil build-up on the west side of the reave, resembling a slight lynchet. The gaps in this section all appear to be modern.
The junction of Rook Reave and Cholwich Town Reave hints that Rook Reave is not all of one constructional period. Unfortunately from the surface indications it is not clear whether it was the northern or the southern section of Rook Reave that was constructed at the same time as Cholwich Town Reave. A third possibility is that the kink in Rook Reave here is merely a constructional irregularity like those further south. From the junction northwards, the reave is continuous excepting a gap between 713 and 714.5 m., which is probably modern. It passes a stone row immediately to the east at 730 m., but there is no intersection. At 818 m. and 919 m. the reave negotiates two sharp scarps, beneath which Penn Beacon in not visible, but there is no deviation of line.
The reave system can only be interpreted as a boundary system, probably of a territorial nature, and appears to be contemporary with the Bronze Age hut circles and enclosures.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977/1980, SX56SE81 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV358809.

(31/08/1977) SX 600006186 to SX 59916392 Rook Reave is as described by Fleming and Collis (1973). It is associated with the following sites: 'Penn Beacon' cairn SX 56 SE 60; 'Cholwich Town' Reave SX 56 SE 82; 'Shell Top' reave SX 56 SE 83, the stone row SX 56 SE 65; and the enclosed settlement SX 56 SE 64, which is built onto and postdates the reave.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.
(26/09/1980) The Reave may extend into Rook Wood (Fleming, 1978) southwards from SX 59926140 where a modern wall, apparently on the line of the reave, terminates. The wood is however a mass of impenetrable rhododendron and any remains are currently unsurveyable.

Fleming, A., 1978, The Prehistoric Landscape of Dartmoor. Part 1: South Dartmoor, 97-123 (Article in Serial). SDV235265.

Rook Reave now known to extend into Rook Wood (SX 598612). At SX 599628 is a D-shaped enclosure. (SX 56 SE 64).

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

Visible on the aerial photographs and recorded on map overlay.

Ordnance Survey, 1989, OS/89154, OS/89154 V 709-710 07-MAY-1989 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363136.

A linear bank is visible as an earthwork.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 177-178 (Monograph). SDV137656.

The Penn Beacon South reave. Other details: Map 52, 3.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5962 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

A linear bank is identifiable as an earthwork.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5962 01-JUN-2002 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

A linear bank is visible as an earthwork.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5962 03-MAY-2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

A linear bank is visible as an earthwork.

Gerrard, S., 2004, List of Sites Remaining to be Considered for Designation on Dartmoor (Un-published). SDV345444.

This site was considered for designation as a Scheduled Ancient Monument during the Monument Protection Programme. The programme ended before the entire list of sites was successfully scheduled so this is included on a local list of Nationally Important Sites.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5962-SX5963 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

A linear bank is identifiable 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.

A bank up to 4m wide known as Rook Reave is identifiable on aerial photographs of 1989, digital images derived aerial photographs of 2002 and 2007 and visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013, as an earthwork crossing the south-facing slopes of Penn Moor for circa 822m towards Rook Tor.
The southern end of the bank almost abuts the probably medieval field boundary east of the prehistoric hut circle settlement recorded as MDV79189 and is abutted on the east side at circa SX5993621 by the hut circle settlement MDV2403.
Cholwich Town Reave abuts the west side of the bank at circa MDV59956250.
The boundary continues to the north as Rook Reave (MDV2566)

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• 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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