See important guidance on the use of this record.

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

Summary

A flat-topped round cairn, 5.5 metres diameter and up to 0.7 metres high, containing the remains of a stone cist. The edge of the cairn is defined by a stone kerb, only the southern half of which is now visible.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1008652: Round cairn 190m east of Cross Gate

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE8
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 438516
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/130
• Old SAM County Ref: 837
• Old SAM Ref: 22396

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CIST (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• ROUND CAIRN (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Gerrard, S., 07/05/1993, Round Cairn and Cist (Ground Photograph). SDV357420.

Worth, R. H., 1935, 54th Report on Barrows, 77-78 (Article in Serial). SDV346265.

Cairn with cist discovered in 1935 about 200 yards east of Cross Gate. Two sides stones and the north-west end stone of the cist remain; the southern end stone is displaced. The barrow in which the cist stands is surrounded by a close-set retaining circle [of stones] 16 feet 6 inches internal diameter.
A cist, consisting of two side stones and an end stone, contained within a barrow surrounded by a 16ft 6 ins diameter Kerb circle.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX56NE8 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV243550.

(07/09/1950) Cairn circle 5.0 metres diameter, 0.7 metres high. Cist 0.85 by 1.0 metres by 0.35 metres deep.

Copeland, G. W., 1952, Twenty-First Annual Report of the Plymouth and District Branch, 330 (Article in Serial). SDV237178.

Ancient Monuments, 1970, Cairn scheduling notes (Schedule Document). SDV243548.

(10/11/1970) Cairn and cist west of cross gate. Cairn 7.32 metres in diameter with a rectangular cist visible in the centre. The cist is 1.829 by 1.219 metres but the south side stone and the capstone are missing. Although the primary cist is clearly robbed the remainder of the cain is intact.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 175 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Walkhampton 25. Site visit 20th September 1975. Cairn with close-set retaining circle, enclosing cist placed south-south-east to north-north-west. Diameter 5.5 metres, heigh 0.6 metres. Located to the south of Leather Tor.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1979, South West Water Authority Burrator Survey, No. 69 (Report - non-specific). SDV278356.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX56NE8, Plan, photograph (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV250491.

(03/09/1980) On the bracken-covered lower southern slope of Leather Tor at 280m. OD is a cairn and cist. The cairn circle with some displaced retaining stones, measures 5.6m. in diameter and the cairn material is 0.5m. in height.
The cist is as planned by Worth (1935), with the coverstone lying 1.5m. south-west of the cist, adjacent to the displaced end stone. Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD.

Robinson, R., 1983, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1983 (Un-published). SDV345762.

Department of Environment Field Monument Warden site visit 16th January 1983.

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

Not visible on Royal Air Force verticals.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 74 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

E20. Platform circle. Close set ring of kerb stones, 5 metres internal diameter, enclosing a flat-topped cairn, 0.5 metres high.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., 133159 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Site visit 7th May 1993. Flat-topped round cairn containing a cist. Cairn mound measures 5.5 metres diameter and stands up to 0.7 metres high. Its southern edge is defined by a kerb of large stones set on edge. The kerb probably survives as a buried features on the northern side of the mound. The centre of the mound has been partially excavated to reveal a cist orientated north-south. The interior of the cist is 1 metre by 0.7 metres by 0.4 metres deep. The southern end stone is missing and the capstone, which measures 1 metre by 0.6 metres has been displaced and now lies a short distance south-west of the cist.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 51-2, Map 45, Figure 45.14 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Leather Tor S cairn at SX56316952 of 5.5 metres diameter by 0.4 metres high with a cist was first recorded in 1935. The gradient here is comparatively steep and many of the stones of the surrounding kerb retaining circle have slipped sideways allowing the mound to merge into the surrounding hillside. A few stones still in place around the lower margin have prevented the whole structure from spilling down the slope. The robbers' trench indicates that they broke into the cist from the south-east side, displacing the end stone downhill where it rests partly buried next to the cover slab.

Ordnance Survey, 2014, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV355681.

Cairn and Cist marked.

English Heritage, 2014, National Heritage List for England, 1008652 (National Heritage List for England). SDV355683.

Round cairn 190 metres east of Cross Gate. This monument includes a flat-topped round cairn containing a cist situated on a south-facing slope below Leather Tor overlooking Burrator Reservoir. The cairn mound measures 5.5 metres in diameter, stands up to 0.7 metres high and its southern edge is defined by a kerb of large stones set on edge. This kerb probably survives as a buried feature on the northern side of the mound. The centre of the mouond has been partially excavated to reveal a cist orientated north-south. The interior of this cist measures 1 metre long by 0.7 metres wide and 0.4 metres deep. The southern end stone is missing and the capstone which measures 1 metres by 0.6 metres wide has been displaced and now lies a short distance south-west of the cist.
Despite evidence of partial excavation, the round cairn 190 metre east of Cross Gate survives well and contains archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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