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Summary

Round cairn of 16.5 metres by 13.8 metres by 0.8 metres high with a ditch 2.3 metres wide by 0.2 metres deep on Watchet Hill

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1017872: A round cairn on Watchet Hill

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX69SW25
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 444176
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX69SW/72
• Old SAM Ref: 28669

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ROUND CAIRN (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Prowse, A. B., 1890, Notes on the Neighbourhood of Taw Marsh, North Dartmoor, 186 (Article in Serial). SDV239781.

The remains of a ruined tumulus, twelve yards in diameter, lie one fifth of a mile NE of the Nine Stones (SX 69 SW 12) and thirty yards SW of a flag-staff on Watchet Hill. (SX 61489304 on OS 6" 1903.)

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1974, SX69SW25 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV254977.

(23/07/1974) SX 6147 9304 A tumulus 15.6 metres in diameter and up to 0.6 metres high. The centre and north-west side of the mound have been mutilated but it is still very well defined. Surveyed at 1/2500.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 133 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(10/07/1976) Cairn mutilated. Diameter 13.5m, height 0.6m. Siting-hillspur.

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

Not visible on 1946 RAF photos.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 144108 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(17/06/1997) (17/06/1997) Round cairn, 16.5m by 13.8m by 0.8m high. Ditch 2.3m wide, 0.2m deep. Grass and gorse covered. Military flag 50 degrees and 18.3m from edge of barrow. Stones protruding in places.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 208-209, 244, Map 40, Site '12' (Monograph). SDV219155.

Watchet Hill cairn at SX61519305 of circa 14.0 metres diameter by 0.8 metres high at Site '12'. The cairn has suffered badly from the curiosity of casual diggers. The pits at the centre have reached ground level and probably little of the original structure remains where it was placed. The upcast has been thrown outside in ragged heaps around the edge increasing the diameter to 14 metres from probably one nearer half that size.

Cartographic Engineering, 2006, Dartmoor 2006 1:1250 Aerial Photography (digital) (Aerial Photograph). SDV345590.

Visible on aerial photograph.

Ordnance Survey, 2023, Mastermap 2023 (Cartographic). SDV365227.

'Tumulus' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2023, National Heritage List for England, 1017872 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365228.

The monument includes a round cairn situated on the summit of Watchet Hill. The cairn survives as a 0.8 metres high oval shaped mound measuring 16.6 metres long north to south by 13.8 metres wide east to west. A T-shaped trench, the consequence of a partial early excavation, cuts through the central part of the mound. Adjacent to the south eastern side of the mound there is a 2.3 metres wide and 0.2 metres deep ditch. This represents the remains of the quarry ditch from which material was derived during the construction of the cairn. This ditch would have originally surrounded the mound but now survives largely as a buried feature.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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