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Summary

A stony cairn on Hurston Ridge of 9.5 metres by 11.7 metres and up to 0.65 metres high. Some stone is apparent and a large fallen slab lies on the south-eastern margin. An amorphous hollow 0.15 metres deep lies slightly south of centre. Excavated in 1900 when an inverted Bronze Age collared urn was recovered.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020182: Cairn on Hurston Ridge 1km north west of Warren House Inn

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SE21
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443805
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/45
• Old SAM Ref: 28746
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX68SE21

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Baring Gould, S., 1901, 7th Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 137-138, fig 5-6 (Article in Serial). SDV249499.

Hurston Ridge; pillaged cairn (26 feet / 7.9 metres in diameter) examined in 1900. Yielded large portion of broken urn (circumference ?4 feet, 5 inches), resting mouth down on flat stone covering pit filled with wood charcoal. The urn was partly protected by a leaning stone kept in position by trigger stones. The remains of the urn are covered with ornamentations. Dark, friable pottery containing little clay.

Worth, R. H., 1902, 21st Report of the Barrow Committee, 111, 122, 123, 127 (Article in Serial). SDV20971.

At Hurston Ridge another inverted urn was unearthed which had a diameter of about 17 inches (43 centimetres).

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

'Cairn (Remains of)' shown on early 20th century map.

Victoria County History, 1906, The Victoria History of the County of Devon, 360-361, section (Article in Serial). SDV238214.

Brailsford, J. W., 1938, Bronze Age Stone Monuments of Dartmoor, 450 (Article in Serial). SDV304210.

Bronze Age stone monuments on Dartmoor.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1952, SX68SE21 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV364156.

(17/06/1952) SX 6703 8192 No sign of this antiquity.

Barber, J., 1965, 25th Report on the archaeology and early history of Devon, 100-1 (Article in Serial). SDV161111.

Pettit, P., 1974, Prehistoric Dartmoor, Lower Plate opposite 54 (Monograph). SDV231149.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 146, Lydford 30 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(23/07/1972) Saw no sign of cairn marked on Ordnance Survey map as 'Site of Cairn' only, which yielded part of a Bronze Age collared urn (now in Plymouth City Museum). Cairn diameter 8.0m.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1978, SX68SE21 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV364157.

(20/06/1978) SX 67008184. A stone cairn in open moorland on the gentle north-east facing flank of Hurston Ridge 570m north-north-west of the summit of Water Hill. This feature measures 9.5m north to south by 11.7m and remains a maximum of 0.65m high on the north-west. Some stone is apparent and a large fallen slab lies on the south-eastern margin. An amorphous hollow 0.15m deep lies slightly south of centre.
The location of this feature varies considerably from the grid reference given by Ordnance Survey 1963 6 inch map sheet (SX 6703 8192), suggesting that this may be a separate monument. However, the immediate area is poorly served with local Ordnance Survey control and it seems more likely that its position was originally erroneously surveyed.

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

Not visible on 1946 aerial photographs.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 152169 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(10/06/1999) Cairn on Hurston Ridge standing 1070 metres north-north-west of the Warren House Inn. Diameter 9m, height 0.6m. Flat topped mound. Large triangular stone on the south-east edge of the mound is 1.2m long, 0.85m wide and over 0.3m thick. Old erosion around this stone. Heather and bilberry. 3m to the north-west of the mound is a 1.5m long, 1m wide and 0.15m deep hollow. This is not included within the monument.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 31-2, 238, Map 25 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Hurston Ridge Cairn at SX67008182 of circa 9.0 metres diameter by 0.2 metres high. Cairn was lost soon after it was discovered in 1900. However the cairn is still to be found on the west side of Assycombe Hill and only a triangular slab lying flat on the south-east edge of a low mound. Until 1986 another slab lay in the shallow pit at the centre which was perhaps the stone which protected the urn but this has since been taken away.

English Heritage, 2005, Survey Information (miscellaneous date) (Report - Survey). SDV345855.

Shown as a cross on survey.

Historic England, 2018, National Heritage List for England, 1020182 (National Heritage List for England). SDV360653.

The monument includes a round cairn situated on a ridge between Assycombe Hill and Water Hill overlooking much of central Dartmoor. The cairn, which is flat- topped, measures 9 metres in diameter and stands up to 0.6 metres high. A recumbent triangular stone on the north eastern edge of the cairn may have once stood upright. In 1900 this cairn was investigated by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee who found below a slab, a large upturned urn covering a charcoal filled pit.

National Monument Record, 2018, Pastscape, Accessed: 13-Apr-18 (Website). SDV360651.

[443805, SX68SE21] A Bronze Age round cairn situated on Hurston Ridge between Assycombe Hill and Water Hill. The cairn is flat topped and measures 9 metres in diameter by 0.6 metres in height. A recumbant triangular stone lies on its north eastern side. The cairn was excavated in 1900 by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee who found an upturned urn covering a charcoal filled pit (English Heritage scheduling amendment, 19-MAR-2001).

Environment Agency WMS, 2019, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution), 2019 (Cartographic). SDV362956.

Visible on Lidar data.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV7521 - COLLARED URN (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC)

Associated Events

• EDV8516 - Cairn investigated, Hurston Ridge
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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