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Summary

Substantial round cairn; possible platform cairn 18.0 metres in diameter (up to 1.4 metres high in the east and 0.9 metres in the west) with disturbed interior and an off-centre, modern, 1.6 metres high walkers cairn. Several large slabs averaging 0.8 metres by 0.7 metres scattered around the base of the boundary cairn may be the remains of a destroyed cist. Set into the north-east periphery, radial to the cairn centre, is a rectangular structure 2.4 metres long by 1.4 metres wide by 0.5 metres deep. The origin and function of this structure is not clear although it seems too small to be a sheep shelter.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019225: Two cairns on the summit of Water Hill 450m north west of Warren House Inn

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SE19
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443801
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/359/1
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/45/1
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/91
• Old SAM Ref: 28745
• Old SAM Ref: 28745(P)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ROUND CAIRN (Constructed, Early Bronze Age - 2000 BC (Between) to 1800 BC (Between))
• BOUNDARY CAIRN (Early 20th Century to Late 20th Century - 1901 AD (Between) to 1990 AD (Between))
• SHELTER (Constructed, Early 20th Century to Unknown - 1901 AD? (Post))

Full description

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

Large 'Tumulus' shown on 19th century map on the summit of Water Hill.

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

'Tumulus' with a triangulation point shown on early 20th century map.

Page, W., 1906, Victoria County History, 626 (Monograph). SDV362501.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 135 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Visited on 23rd July 1972. Cairn crowned with modern stone heap. In north-north-east part is a modern stone built shelter. Siting - slope. Diameter 18 metres, height 1.5 metres.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card, 1978, SX68SE19 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV258622.

(20/06/1978) Situated at SX 67158129 on the rounded summit of Water Hill is the remains of a substantial round cairn 18.0 metres in diameter and up to 1.4 metres high in the east and 0.9 metres in the west. The whole of the central area of the cairn has been robbed to construct a superimposed modern boundary cairn 4.0 metres in diameter and 2.1 metres high. This has given a 'dished' appearance to the cairn proper. Several large slabs averaging 0.8 metres by 0.7 metres scattered around the base of the boundary cairn may be the remains of a destroyed cist.
Set into the north east periphery, radial to the cairn centre, is a rectangular structure 2.4 metres long by 1.4 metres wide by 0.5 metres deep. It may be a sheep shelter but if so is unusually well constructed and of considerable age. The lower layers of stone are earthfast and apparently form an integral part of the cairn.
Revised at 1:2500 on MSD.

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

Not visible on 1946 aerial photographs.

Greeves, T. + Robinson, R., 1985, Southern cairn on Water Hill (Report - Survey). SDV258614.

Visited on 5th July 1985. Site surveyed at 1:100.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit, S. Probert (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(03/11/1992) SX 67468129. This cairn, generally as described by the Ordnance Survey (1978), possesses panoramic views in all quarters. It was possibly a platform cairn which has disturbed interior and an off-centre, modern, 1.6m high walkers cairn. It is, on average, 0.9 metres high but on the east side its height of 1.4 metres is caused by upcast from the pit. The origin and function of the well constructed rectangular structure is not clear although it seems to small to be a sheep shelter.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 152166, 52168 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(10/06/1999) [152166] Southern of two round cairns on the summit of Water Hill. Diameter 18 metres, height 1.5 metres, 3 metres wide ditch. A 3 metre wide band of rushes on the north-east side indicates the presence of a buried ditch which survive around the entire circumference. There is a slight rim around the outer edge of the mound, although this is probably the result of robbing. Large number of stones protrude through the turf but there is no evidence of recent damage.
Large modern stone pile in the centre of the cairn measures 1.3 metres high and around 4.5 metres in diameter. Large slab on the south side of this pile may have originally been part of a cist. Grass, some heather and bilberry with rushes in places.
[152168] (10/06/1999) Historic shelter built into the north-east side of the large cairn on the summit of Water Hill. Measures 2m by 1.6m. Butler (1997) believes this structure to be a passage connected with the cairn. It however looks much more like a small shelter of historic date.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 36, 238, Map 26 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Water Hill cairn '1' at SX67158128 of 18.0 metres diameter by 1.3 metres high. The southern of two cairns at Site '5' on Water Hill. A modern stone heap caps the large summit cairn, the stones obtained from an excavation into its north-eastern side. This pit has revealed a stone-lined passage 1.3 metres wide from the edge of the cairn towards the centre, apparently blocked by a slab about 2 metres in. The passage seems to have been visible in 1831 when it was described as a trench about 2 metres long. It may have been exposed many centuries earlier and given rise to the name of King's Oven. The cairn of small stones was probably always flat-topped and apart from the slight central hollow does not appear to be badly damaged.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1995, King Arthur’s Oven-Dartmoor’s first tourist attraction?, 6-8 (Article in Serial). SDV340425.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1995, King Arthur's Oven, 6-8 (Article in Serial). SDV340423.

Cairn is one of the ancient bound marks of the Dartmoor Forest. First recorded in 1240 AD and known as King's Oven.

Passmore, A. J., 1997, Boveycombehedd, Chagford, Devon: an archaeological investigation of a Diachronic landscape, 49-70 (Post-Graduate Thesis). SDV360382.

The cairn at King’s Oven, 1.75 kilometres south of the settlement attached to the Hurston Ridge Main Reave, was recorded in the field earthwork survey of 1995. It is unusual for Dartmoor and has been dated to 2000 - 1800 BC on the basis of its parallels to Cornish types.

Butler, J., 1997, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities - Vol 5 The Second Millennium B.C., 156; fig 95 (Monograph). SDV320503.

Passmore, A. J., 1999, ‘Boveycombehedd’, Chagford, Devon: an archaeological investigation of a Diachronic landscape (Article in Serial). SDV340424.

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

Visible on aerial photograph.

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

Visible on Lidar data.

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

'Cairn' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1019225 Accessed 03/04/22 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

The monument includes two round cairns aligned north-north-east to south-south-west and an historic shelter situated on the summit of Water Hill overlooking much of central Dartmoor. This southern flat-topped cairn measures 18 metres in diameter, stands up to 1.5 metres high and is surmounted by a 1.3 metres high modern stone pile. A large slab on the southern side of this pile may have originally been part of a cist. A slight rim around the summit of the mound may represent a buried kerb or the result of later interference. A 3 metres wide band of rushes adjacent to the north eastern side of the mound may indicate the presence of a ditch, which originally surrounded the cairn, and from which material was quarried during the construction of the mound. The historic shelter is built into the north-eastern side of the large southern cairn and survives as a 2 metres long by 1.6 metres wide rectangular three sided structure faced by drystone walling standing up to 0.45 metres high.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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