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Summary

Cairn of 8.0 metres by 7.5 metres and up to 0.4 metres high is one of a group of three cairns to the east of White Tor. A ring of small boulders 5.2 metres in diameter protrudes through the turf on the flat top of the mound

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1007981: Round cairn 340m east of White Tor summit

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439741
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57NW/52/1
• Old SAM County Ref: 545A
• Old SAM Ref: 22206
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX57NW7

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Northern of a group of three 'Tumuli' shown on early 20th century map.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX57NW7, SX57NW7 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV227688.

Site visit 17th July 1950. Cairn, 7 metres diameter, 0.3 metres high.
Site visit 19th November 1978. A turf-coverd cairn of platform type. 8.0 metres metres by 7.5 metres by 0.4 metres high. A ring of spaced, smallish boulders, 5.2 metres in diameter protrudes through the tuf on the flat top of the mound.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 160, No. 24. (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Cairn, probably that excavated by Baring-Gould circa 1898 in which a perforated spatulate implement was found, now in Plymouth Museum. Diameter 8.0 metres, height 0.3 metres.

Griffith, F. M., 1986, Cairn at White Tor (Personal Comment). SDV227691.

Site visit 24th August 1986.

Gerrard, S., 1990-1994, Monument Protection Programme (Report - Survey). SDV350743.

Round cairn, 6 metres in diameter, 0.4 metres high. A kerb of small stones defines the outer edge of the mound. Given the known history of this site it seems most likely that the central hollow was caused by the documented excavation rather than being an original feature.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 96, 241, Map 31, Site 22 (Monograph). SDV219155.

White Tor E. '1' at SX54597869 of 7.8 metres diameter by 0.2 metres high. This cairn was excavated in 1899.

GetMapping, 1999 - 2000, Dartmoor 1999-2000 1:1250 Aerial Photography (digital) (Aerial Photograph). SDV345751.

The remains of the cairn are best visible on this version of the aerial photography.

Newman, P., 2003, The Langstone Moor Stone Circle, Peter Tavy, Devon and its Prehistoric Environs, 5, Fig. 2 (Report - Survey). SDV255420.

The most northerly of the group. It has been extensively flattened but traces of a stony ring are visible around the circumference.

Newman, P., 2004, Merrivale Range Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV346874.

Visited 10/08/2004. Condition is poor.

GeoInformation Group Ltd, 2010, 1:625 2010 Colour aerial photography for Dartmoor (12.5cm resolution) (Aerial Photograph). SDV346026.

Visible on aerial photograph.

English Heritage, 2013, National Heritage List for England, 1007981 (National Heritage List for England). SDV350785.

Round cairn 340 metres east of White Tor summit. This monument includes a round cairn situated on a gentle south-east facing slope overlooking the valley of the River Walkham. The cairn mound measures 6 metres in diameter and stands up to 0.4 metres high. A hollow in the centre of the mound measuring 3 metres in diameter and 0.3 metres deep is the result of a partial excavation carried out by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in 1899. This work recovered a perforated stone. A kerb of small stones defines the outer edge of the mound.

Newman, P., 2018, Archaeological Sites within Merrivale Training Area, Dartmoor National Park, Devon: A condition survey on behalf of Defence Infrastructure Organisation, 11/01/2018 (Report - Survey). SDV361635.

One of a group of three mutilated round cairns, comprising turf-covered stony mounds on an exposed ridge south-east of Whittor on open moorland. Condition is poor, but stable. Much legacy damage to this feature.

National Monument Record, 2018, Pastscape, 1978 and 1987 data (Website). SDV360651.

Three prehistoric round cairns on the eastern slopes of Whittor. The most northerly cairn has a diameter of 7.5 metres and a height of 0.4 metres, and has a rim of stones.
This group of three disturbed and mutilated cairns is situated on a fairly exposed ridge of high ground in open boulder-free moorland and is composed of earth and scattered stones. All three cairns are in a very ruinous condition. Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD. See ground photograph (citing Ordnance Survey, 13/10/1978).
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Centred SX54607867. This group of three disturbed and mutilated cairns is situated on a fairly exposed ridge of high ground in open boulder-free moorland.
SX54597869 (Grinsell's no. 24) A turf-covered cairn of platform type C 8m long by 7.5m with a maximum height of 0.4m. A ring of spaced, smallish boulders 5.2m in diameter protrudes through the turf on the flat top of the mound; this is almost certainly part of the structure of the cairn (SAM no. 545a).
The 10 additional cairns depicted around these cairns on the Royal Commission (1985) aerial photograph project transcript could not be traced on the ground and they almost certainly do not exist. The spongy moorland turf in this area is easily disfigured by animal paths, vehicle tracks and water channels. The small sub-circular ditch-type patterns evident on the Royal Commission aerial photograph no. SX5478/1.229 are the result of natural and artificial activity and have no archaeological significance. 'It is not altogether clear why Grinsell chose the northern cairn as the excavated feature as all three more or less fit the siting given in the T.D.A., however, on balance, he is probably correct. It also seems odd that the prominent cairn (no 26) is not Scheduled. The AM report (though inadequate) of 1964 attributed by the SMR to no. 25 seems to best fit no. 26'. (citing Fletcher, M. J., 19/11/1987, Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments in England Field Survey data).

Ordnance Survey, 2022, Mastermap 2022 (Cartographic). SDV364674.

One of four 'Cairns' shown on modern mapping.

National Mapping Programme, post-1985, Dartmoor NMP Transcription data (Cartographic). SDV364293.

Northern of a group of three circular features shown.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV5328 - PERFORATED OBJECT (Prehistoric - 698000 BC to 42 AD)

Associated Events

• EDV7275 - Survey of the Langstone Moor stone circle and other prehistoric monuments nearby
• EDV7441 - Condition survey of the archaeological sites of Merrivale Training Area
• EDV7570 - Condition survey of Merrivale Range training area
• EDV8417 - Excavation of cairn east of White Tor
• EDV8713 - Merrivale Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey

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