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Summary

Prehistoric Piles Reave which was possibly an outer enclosure for several settlements to the south and may be unfinished

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork remains of Piles Reave; a bronze age reave in the Erme Valley that may have served as an outer enclosure for a number of settlements in the area

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66SW90
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442433
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66SW/144

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

National Monuments Record, 1976, NMR SX6361, 1 (Aerial Photograph). SDV138823.

Photograph taken on 22nd April 1976.

National Monument Record, 1976, SX6461, 3 (Aerial Photograph). SDV147975.

Photograph taken on 22nd April 1976.

Fleming, A., 1978, The Prehistoric Landscape of Dartmoor. Part 1: South Dartmoor, 97-123 (Article in Serial). SDV235265.

Piles Reave. Runs from SX642-618- to SX639-613-. Possibly an outer enclosure for several settlements to the south as Stalldown Reave was not completed.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX66SW90 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV260798.

(15/05/1979) On the steep south-east slopes of Stalldown Barrow a wall runs from SX 63866133 at 290.0m OD to SX 64076188 at 335.0m OD. It's southern terminal fades away as it nears the modern track.
The wall continues north-west as a bank of small stone averaging 1.0m wide and 0.3m high. A gap is visible at SX 63826143 with, nearby amorphous groups of stone. As the wall turns north and east it takes on a more substantial appearance as a bank of large stone and boulders up to 3.0m wide and 0.7m high. This has allowed a lynchet to form behind the wall. At SX 63936178 a gap occurs where a gully runs down the slope. After this point the wall gradually becomes smaller again, and ends on a steep slope.
The feature is not of typical reave construction or appearance. It apparently acts as an outer boundary or march to several small settlements (SX 66 SW 49-51).
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD.

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

Visible and recorded, with small gaps in the hollow around SX63946180.

Gerrard, S., 1993-2010, Monument Protection Programme Alternative Action Report (Report - non-specific). SDV145710.

Newman, P., 2018, Erme Valley Survey data (GIS and Excel spreadsheet) (Cartographic). SDV361913.

Curvilinear feature shown on survey.

Newman, P., 2018, The Upper Erme Valley, Dartmoor National Park, Devon: An Archaeological Survey, Appendix 1 (Report - Survey). SDV362921.

A prehistoric curvilinear boundary bank or reave which runs for 650 metres across the south-west slope of Stall Down and may have been associated with several enclosures and hut settlements in this area. The reave comprises a turf-covered stone and earth bank up to 3 metres wide and a number of large earthfast stones have survived along the course. The reave does not connect with any of the prehistoric features near its southern terminal at SX6387461326 and it appears to extend no further north than SX6406861869 leading Flemming to consider this to be an unfinished reave.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8082 - Survey of the Upper Erme Valley

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