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Summary

Earthwork lying 150 metres east of the summit ridge, probably a ring cairn, comprising a curving stony bank forming the outlinee suggestive of an approximate circle. Badly damaged on the north and north-east sides and mostly effaced on the west by a path.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX78NE/59

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• RING CAIRN (Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 701 BC)

Full description

Royal Air Force, 19/05/1947, RAF/CPE/UK/2082, 4462-3 (Aerial Photograph). SDV350392.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1974-1982, SX78NE21 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV290561.

site visit 16th April 1974. Circular earthwork 21 metres overall diameter. Bank 0.7 metres high internally, 0.5 metres externally. No outer ditch visible. No entrance can be discerned but the north-west quadrant has been virtually destroyed. This is not a modern work but its date and purpose are obscure.
Site visit 4th January 1982. Sub-circular earthwork with a bank of stone rubble 2.3 metres wide, overgrown with furze and completely destroyed where it adjoins a track. Possibly a robbed cairn.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, Aerial Photograph Project (Interpretation). SDV319854.

Sub-circular enclosure visible and recorded on 1947 RAF aerial photo.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 66 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

A10. A ring cairn. Stone ring 13.3 metres internal diameter with a bank 2.5 metres wide and 0.6 metres high.

Ordnance Survey, 2014, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV355681.

Enclosure marked.

Newman , P., 2017, A Stone Circle and Cairn Group on Mardon Down, Moretonhampstead, Devon, 11-13, Fig 8 (Report - Survey). SDV360188.

Ring cairn at SX 76891 87596
A probable ring cairn lies 150 metres east of the summit ridge and therefore outside the supposed ‘linear cairn cemetery ’ (MDV105916).
A curving stony bank forms an outline suggestive of an approximate circle, but it has been badly damaged on the north and north-east sides, while the western segment has been mostly effaced by a path that traverses it. The best preserved section is the southern segment, where the bank appears undisturbed. It is up to 5 metres wide at base with a rounded profile of 0.45 metres high. On the north and northeast segments, material has been removed leaving only the hollowed outline of the bank. Although turf covered today, this bank is certainly made up of stone, some of which is visible through erosion at the point where the track crosses it.

Sources / Further Reading

• Article in Serial: Turner, J. R.. 1990. Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor. Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society. 48. Paperback Volume. 66.
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card: Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division. 1974-1982. SX78NE21. Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card. Card Index.
• Interpretation: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1985. Aerial Photograph Project. Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England Aerial Photograph P. Cartographic.
• Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 19/05/1947. RAF/CPE/UK/2082. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). 4462-3.
• Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2014. MasterMap. Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping. Digital. [Mapped feature: #80634 ]
• Report - Survey: Newman , P.. 2017. A Stone Circle and Cairn Group on Mardon Down, Moretonhampstead, Devon. Southwest Landscape Investigations. A4 Comb Bound + Digital. 11-13, Fig 8.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7270 - Survey of cairn cemetery, stone circle and other earthworks on Mardon Down

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