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Summary

One of a pair of large cairns to the south-east of Rippon Tor. It is located on a reave but probably predates it. It is an amorphous and much disturbed cairn of 20 metres diameter, which, due to interference, now has an uneven profile. Condition is declining.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019603: Coaxial fields, prehistoric settlements and cairns on Halshanger and Horridge Commons, forming part of the Rippon Tor coaxial field system

Other References/Statuses

• MPP Archaeological Item Dataset: 152328
• National Monuments Record: SX77NW48
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 445156
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX77NW/112
• Old SAM County Ref: 928
• Old SAM Ref: 28774
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX77NW48

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Victoria County History, 1906, The Victoria History of the County of Devon, 628 (Article in Serial). SDV238214.

Tumuli near Rippon Tor.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1960-1961, SX77NW48, Cairn A, plan (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV308321.

(20/04/1960) SX 7471 7549 Cairn 'A' is 3.5 metres high. A 25" survey of the cairns has been made.
('A'-SX 74717549; 'B'-SX 74747547) Cairns (NR) ('C'-SX 74687552; 'D'-SX 74657557) Cairns (NR).

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 142 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(Visited 25/9/1973) Cairn dug into from west side, diameter 22 metres, height 2.1 metres.

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

Not visible on National Monuments Record / Royal Air Force aerial photographs.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., 152328 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Site visit 1999. Cairn 115 metres south-east of Rippon Tor summit at SX74757547.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume One - The East, 42, Fig. 5.3 (Monograph). SDV299725.

Butler's cairn 4 is another large cairn, about 20 metres in diameter, lying along the reave with its partner (MDV7433).

GeoInformation Group Ltd, 2010, 1:625 2010 Colour (12.5cm resolution) (Aerial Photograph). SDV346026.

Ordnance Survey, 2012, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV348725.

Cairn is depicted on the modern mapping.

Newman, P., 2013, An Archaeological Assessment of Halshanger and Horridge Commons, Dartmoor, Devon, 4, Table 1 (Report - Assessment). SDV356396.

Stony cairn, 20 metres diameter. Has been much disturbed and probably robbed of stone over the centuries so bearing little resemblance to its original appearance. The cairn is located on the course of a reave and gives the appearance of having been built over it. However, it is more likely that the reave is later, halting at the cairn and recommencing on its other side. Condition declining.

Newman, P., 2013, Halshanger Sites Visited and Confirmed (Report - Survey). SDV351113.

Site visited and grid reference confirmed.

English Heritage, 2014, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV355683.

Part of the Rippon Tor coaxial field system. There are ten cairns within the monument, half of which stand at or near the summit of Rippon Tor. [One of] two cairns butted by a reave. 20 metres in diameter and stands up to 3.5 metres high.

Newman, P., 2015, Rippon Tor Premier Archaeological Landscape, Dartmoor National Park, Devon (Report - Survey). SDV359145.

Cairn 75 metres south-east of Rippon Tor. Seventy-five metres to the south-east of the Rippon Tor outcrop, a stony mound sits away from the tor on the crest of the hill. It is an amorphous and much disturbed cairn of 20m diameter, which, due to interference, now has an uneven profile. Condition is declining. SX74718 75498

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, RT3 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

Visited January 2019. Noticeable human damage with modern cairn piles robbed from original cairn. Photos X 3 taken

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs, RT3 (Photograph). SDV363073.

Visited January 2019. Photos X 3 taken to show the modern cairns / sculptures. 1) looking north west 2) looking north 3) looking north west

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6433 - Assessment of Halsanger Common, Horridge Common and Rippon Tor
• EDV6836 - Rippon Tor Premier Archaeological Landscape survey

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