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Summary

One of many small clearance cairns associated with the collection and removal of wall-building material from the underlying reave. There is no evidence to suggest that any of these features are of prehistoric let alone sepulchral origin.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1013429: Three stone alignments, ten cairns, three stone hut circles and a length of the Great Western Reave on Longash Common

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57SE111
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 440345
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57SE/274
• Old SAM Ref: 24193

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• (Former Type) CAIRN (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• CLEARANCE CAIRN (Constructed, Post Medieval - 1540 AD (Between) to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX57SE111 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV251905.

(04/12/1979) At SX 55657466 is a cairn with a diameter of 3.0m. and a height of 0.6m., partly turf-covered. It is 1.0m. from the E side of a reave (SX 57 SE 116) possibly stripped for the material, and exhibits some careful construction in the form of two concentric rings of stone, 0.3m. high, forming the perimeter, from which the cairn rises to the centre. It is probably sepulchral rather than the result of clearance since the reave is the obvious place to dump surplus material and like the cairns to the NW (SX 57 SE 110) may be of later date than the reave. See ground photographs.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and 1:2500, for which see illustration.

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

Not recorded.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 133481 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Round cairn lies 1.0 meters east of the Great Western Reave. Mound measures 3.0 meters in diameter and stands up to 0.7 meters high. Two concentric rings of stone forming a kerb define the perimeter of the mound. Probably post-dates the reave, since then it would have probably been extensively robbed if it had been in existence at the time when the reave was constructed.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 31, Map 44, Figure 44.7 (Monograph). SDV137656.

The small Cairns '13' to '17' at Merivale of between 2.5 and 3.5 metres in diameter by 0.3 metre high are sited alongside and across the reave as it descends towards Long Ash Brook and are merely collections of its stones which leave gaps in its construction on either side.

Probert, S. A. J. + Fletcher, M. J., 2000, The Merrivale Guardianship Area, Walkhampton, Devon (Report - Survey). SDV344969.

(07/02/2000) One of many small clearance cairns associated with the collection and removal of wall-building material from the underlying reave. There is no evidence to suggest that any of these features are of prehistoric let alone sepulchral origin.

DCMS, 2004, Merrivale clearance cairn (Correspondence). SDV320202.

Scheduled Monument Consent granted for works concerning a five year programme of management works including erosion repairs.

Dartmoor National Park + English Heritage, 2004, Merrivale: An Archaeological Landscape (Leaflet). SDV320201.

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

Cairn shown on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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