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Summary

Cairn with cist at Shavercombe north of Hen Tor of 5.6 metres in diameter and 0.6 metres in height with a few stones of a cairn circle 3.2 metres in diameter remaining on the west side. The cist is 1.2 metres by 0.4 metres and 0.5 metres deep with a coverstone 1.6 metres by 1.1 metres aligned north-north-west to south-south-east.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1012214: One of a number of cairns with cists south of Shavercombe Brook

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE104
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 438797
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/169
• Old SAM Ref: 10653
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX56NE104

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

'Kistvaen (Remains of) shown on 19th century map.

Worth, R. H., 1890, The Moorland Plym, 305 (Article in Serial). SDV215949.

Worth, R. H., 1901, 20th Report of the Barrow Committee, 119, plan xii (Article in Serial). SDV163208.

Two sides, one endstone, and the coverstone remain. The cist measures 0.9m long by 0.45m wide and 0.8m deep, has been covered by a barrow and lies in a stone circle 3.2m diameter. The eastern side stone has fallen against the western and completely closed the cist. This stone was turned back in 1900 to admit excavation and has been left so. No results of excavation.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX56NE104, SX56NE104, plan (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV163207.

(17/5/1950) Kisvaen is correct as shown on the 1906 map. Measurements and description given by Worth in 1901 is accurate.
Diameter of barrow 4.5m, height 0.4m high. Four stones of the retaining circle are still visible on the western side.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 164, Shaugh Prior 29 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(08/06/1974) Cairn with three slabs of retaining circle on west, enclosing cist placed south-east by north-west with capstone to east. Excavated by R. H. Worth without result. Diameter measures 5.5m, height 0.3m.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1978, SX56NE104, plan (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV363264.

(20/12/1978) On the slope north of Hen Tor at 395.0m OD is the remains of a cairn with a cist. The cairn measures 5.6m in diameter and 0.6m in height with a few stones of a cairn circle 3.2m in diameter remaining on the west side. The cist is 1.2m by 0.4m and 0.5m deep with a coverstone 1.6m by 1.1m at its maximum. It is aligned north north west - south south east. Revised at 1:10 000 on PFD.

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

Not visible on 1946 Royal Air Force vertical aerial photographs.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 76/e47 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Platform circle. Ring of kerb stones, 2.7m internal diameter, enclosing flat-topped cairn 0.4m high with central cist.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 146, Map 49, Figure 49.22 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Hen Tor N '4' cairn at SX59636577 of 4.0 metres diameter by 0.4 metres high with a cist. The conspicuous mound remains in good shape. Four fair sized slabs of a retaining circle about 3 metres across on western side; others probably buried. Large capstone levered to one side, revealing cist. One end hidden beneath vegetation. The eastern slab leans outwards, where placed during Worth's dig. Includes a detailed sketch of the cist remains.

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

(15/01/2002) SX 5963 6577. This feature remains as described in 1978.

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

Cairn shown on survey.

Bluesky, 2006 - 2007, Bluesky aerial photographs 2006 - 2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV341189.

Visible on the aerial photography.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, UPHT-32 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

(16/03/2020) Condition of the cairn / cist assessed as good, although vegetation is having an impact on the site. Description of the features from the HER is accurate; a more impressive and easier to distinguish cairn in landscape. Surrounded with bracken.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs (Photograph). SDV363073.

Photographs taken during March 2020 visit.

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

Cairn shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1012214 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

This cairn with a cist lies on a north-west facing slope south of Shavercombe Brook and south-east of Shavercombe Tor. It consists of a mound 4.5 metres in diameter and 0.6 metres in height with three stones of a retaining kerb around its west side, which are up to 1.0 metres in width and 0.6 metres in height. Three slabs of the cist remain giving dimensions of 0.9 metres in length, 0.5 metres in width and 0.8 metres in depth. The slabs of the cist were repositioned during excavation in 1900. There are several other cairns in the immediate vicinity.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8148 - The Upper Plym Valley: The Management of an Historic Landscape
• EDV8155 - Plym Valley Survey
• EDV8377 - Excavation of cairn at Shavercombe

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