See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Round barrow circa 18.5 metres diameter and 0.6 metres high, possibly reused as a beacon. Part of barrow cemetery at Heathfield.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020075: Round barrow cemetery and beacon at Heathfield, 650m west of Moorlands

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX47NE/28
• Old SAM Ref: 34284
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX47NE2

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ROUND BARROW (Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Unknown, 1950, The Parish Constables' Accounts of St. Mary Tavy, 1672-1709, 319 (Article in Serial). SDV342325.

Russell, P., 1955, Fire Beacons in Devon, 278 (Article in Serial). SDV336138.

A fire beacon at Heathfield was used in 1690 at the time of the French landing at Teignmouth.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 143 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Site visit 6th June 1974. Round barrow on waste ground at Heathfield. 16 metres diameter, 0.7 metres high.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1983, SX47NE2 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV342324.

1. Site visit 6th October 1950. Low flat-topped mound covered by turf and bushes. 17 metres diameter at the base, 11 metres at the top. 0.35 metres high. Small test pit in the top revealed layers of wood ash on grey clay with charcoal beneath which, at a depth of 0.4 metres was found yellow clay presumed to be the subsoil.
2. The Beacon is the name applied to the junction of three parishes. It may be derived from this mound.
3. There is a mutilated barrow at the junction of the three parishes.
4. A fire beacon at Heathfield Lamerton was used in 1690.
5. Round barrow, 16.0 metres diameter by 0.7 metres high. Site visit by L.V. Grinsell.
6. Site visit 7th November 1983. On a flat hilltop. Platform barrow, 18.5 metres diameter and 0.6 metres high with a sharply cut perimeter slope 1.5 metres wide. There is no visible ditch. In good condition, although overgrown. No finds were made. Other details: Plan.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2002, Round Barrow Cemetery and Beacon at Heathfield, 650 metres West of Moorlands (Schedule Document). SDV342326.

[Part of] the core of a round barrow cemetery containing five bowl barrows and three bell barrows, as well as a beacon. The monument is situated on a prominent upland ridge which overlooks the valleys of tributaries to the Rivers Lyd, Burn and Lumburn. Two additional barrows, representing outlying components of the cemetry are situated to the west and are the subject of separate schedulings. The bowl barrows each include circular mounds which vary in diameter from 20.6 metres to 24 metres and in height from 0.6 metres up to 1.2 metres. They are all surrounded by quarry ditches from which material to construct the mounds was derived. These measure up to 3.2 metres wide, some are up to 0.1 metres deep and visible but the majority are preserved as buried features. Most of the bowl barrows have a fairly steep profile and rather uneven appearanced. Three of the bowl barrows underlie field boundaries and one is the focal point of three parishes. One barrow which partially underlies a field boundary and which is also a parish boundary was reused as a beacon and has also been partially excavated. See schedule document for full details. Other details: Monument No. 34284.

English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009: South West, 118 (Report - non-specific). SDV342694.

Generally unsatisfactory with major localised problems. Principal vulnerability plant growth.

Knight, S., 2009, Westcott Farm (Personal Comment). SDV342323.

Covered with scrub and poached by animals. Other details: Photos.

English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010: South West, 111 (Report - non-specific). SDV344777.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4502 - Site Visit to Westcott Farm

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.