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Summary

The northern of two closely located round cairns on the western ridge of Ringmoor Down. The cairn has a maximum diameter of 19.7m and stands to a maximum height of 1.1m. The mound has been reduced and hollowed as a result of robbing and was later incorporated into a boundary bank and ditch, with possible prehistoric origins, running approximately west to east. Surveyed in April 2022.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1012245: Cairn south-east of Ringmoor Cottage

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE59
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 438668
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/13
• Old SAM County Ref: 568
• Old SAM Ref: 10585

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

Northern of two 'Tumuli' shown on 19th century map.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1977, SX56NE59, Cairn A, Plan (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV256851.

(27/08/1950) Cairn 'A'. One of two turf covered cairns of 19.5 metres diameter, height 1.2 metres. Slightly mutilated on its western side by military operations, otherwise in good condition.
(18/04/1977) Two cairns situated on the plateau of Ringmoor Down at 300m OD. Both have their stone content obscured by a layer of earth and turf and have suffered from military and other depredations.
A: Flat-topped 20.0m overall diameter and 0.6m high, with a bank around the rim 5.0m wide and 0.3m high.
These banks appear to be original features and suggest some sort of variation of a ring cairn.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 166 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Visited on 28th July 1972. Cairn, slight hollow towards centre in pasture. Diameter 19.0 metres, height 1.0 metres.

National Monuments Record, 1978, NMR SX5666, 1/145 (Aerial Photograph). SDV254609.

Photograph taken on 20th May 1977.

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

Cairn incorporated into linear earthwork either a reave that forms a right angle with main reave or a field boundary of field system.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 144-5, Map 49, Figure 49.21 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Ringmoor Down cairn '6' at SX56036627 of 19.0 metres diameter by 1.2 metres high is the northern of two cairns sited prominently on the ridge with a spectacular outlook to the west. Both are hollowed at the centre and later became the focus of ditched banks forming the boundary of medieval enclosures based on the prehistoric reave.

Probert, S., 2005, Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV363484.

(14/02/2005) SX 56026619 and SX 56036625. The remains of two disturbed cairns on the crest of Ringmoor Down. The dimensions of these features are as given by Authority 2 and they remain in a stable condition. Neither displays evidence suggesting the former presence of either cist or kerb. Both mounds have been badly disturbed by later activities. They have been robbed to provide material for the medieval field system in the immediate area, in particular the banks that bisect both mounds. Tinworking in the area has also impinged on the sides of both features and some of the delvings may have been reused by the military for training purposes.

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

Visible on aerial photograph.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, UPRM-1 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

(05/06/2019) Condition assessed as very good; some evidence of military use of the southern cairn (number cartridges in depression in cairn), but this cairn fine.

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

Feature photographed in June 2019.

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

Northern of two 'Cairns' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1012245 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

This cairn lies on the brow of Ringmoor Down approximately 125 metres north-west of Eylesbarrow Reave. It is a grass-covered mound 22 metres in diameter and up to 1.0 metres in height with a hollow centre, suggesting that it has been partly disturbed. It lies 60 metres north of another cairn and within a few hundred metres of a stone row, other cairns and an enclosure.

Newman, P., 2022, Ringmoor Down Premier Archaeological Landscape Dartmoor National Park, Devon. A new survey, Table 1 (Report - Survey). SDV365490.

One of two closely located round cairns on the western ridge of Ringmoor Down. SX 56027 66259. The northern of two closely located round cairns on the western ridge of Ringmoor Down. The cairn has a maximum diameter of 19.7m and stands to a maximum height of 1.1m. The mound has been reduced and hollowed as a result of robbing, and there are signs of past interventions by treasure seekers or antiquarian investigations, including a circular pit in the approximate centre of the mound and a cutting into the western side. Smaller trenches are visible on the top of the mound and on the rim. The cairn was later incorporated into a boundary bank and ditch, with possible prehistoric origins, running approximately west to east. Surveyed at 1:200 scale using GPS, 6 April 2022.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7443 - Condition survey of archaeological sites in Ringmoor Training Area
• EDV7569 - Condition survey of Ringmoor Down training area
• EDV8227 - Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV8917 - Survey of the archaeological features on Ringmoor Down

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