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Summary

Cairn of 5 metres in diameter by 0.75 metres high with a possible cist to the south-east of Sittaford Tor. Surrounded by two rings of kerb stones up to 0.75 metres high. Many stones forming the outer ring are recumbent. Mound material up to 0.2 metres high. Inner kerb is 2.8 metres diameter and the outer is 5 metres diameter. Slab in centre may be remains of a cist

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1018711: Kerbed cairn and cist 635m south west of The Grey Wethers

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SW110
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 623397
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SW/105
• Old SAM Ref: 28685

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Legge, L. G., 1983, Cairn south-east of Sittaford Tor, Plan & Photos (Worksheet). SDV227891.

Visited in August 1983. A stone cist surrounded by a circle of orthostats, overall diameter circa 19 metres (?). Height of orthostats 0.6-0.8 metres. Detailed drawing and photographs with worksheet.

Turner, D., 1983, Cairn south-east of Sittaford Tor, Sketch Plan (Worksheet). SDV227892.

Visited on 4th December 1983. Site seen as a ring cairn with two circles of orthostats.

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

Not visible on RAF 1947 aerial photograph.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit, M. J. Fletcher (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(02/07/1990) SX 63478263. This mutilated kerbed cairn is situated on a peat-covered moorland slope below Sittaford Tor at 488 metres OD.
It measures about 5 metres in diameter, not 19 metres as stated by Legge (1983), and comprises a probably (hidden) central cist set within twin concentric kerbs of granite slabs. The central semi-recumbent slab orientated north to south which may cover a cist is 1.6 metres long, 0.25 metres wide, 0.2 metres thick and leans to the west. Two 0.2 metres high boulders protrude through the turf on its north-east side also a number of buried stones occur around the central area; their maximum height is 0.2 metres. The inner kerb of granite stones circa 3.0 metres in diameter comprises three upright contiguous slabs which are each 0.8 metres high and 1.0 metre wide; they are from 0.15 to 0.3 metres thick. Another five slabs have fallen outwards and a gap on the south side may mark the site of a further slab. Two or three slabs, up to 0.4 metres high, in the outer circle are in situ the remainder have fallen and most are partially buried under the peat layer. The largest visible fallen slab measures 1.3 metres by 0.8 metres and the largest upright is 0.35 metres high, 0.2 metres thick and 1.1 metres wide.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 140579 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(09/09/1997) Kerbed cairn and cist 610m SW of the Grey Wethers.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 112, 242, Map 34, Site 3 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Sittaford Tor S. cairn at SX63488258 of 6.0 metres diameter by 0.3 metres high. It seems to have passed unnoticed by the early antiquaries except for a casual mention by Breton. An outer circle of small slabs about 5 metres across surrounds a ring of much larger stones, three of which still stand close together around the east side. A flat slab at the centre may well be the cover of a cist which will certainly prove to have been robbed at sometime in the past.

Butler, J., 1997, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Five The Second Millennium B.C., 183; fig 126 (Monograph). SDV320503.

English Heritage, 2005-2008, Prehistoric Survey Information (Cartographic). SDV345521.

Cairn shown on survey.

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

Visible on aerial photograph.

Historic England, 2023, National Heritage List for England, 1018711 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365228.

The monument includes a kerbed cairn and cist lying on a south facing slope of Sittaford Tor overlooking the valley of the East Dart River. The cairn survives as two partial concentric rings of edge set stones standing up to 0.75 metres high, enclosing a mound measuring 0.2 metres high. The inner ring has a diameter of 2.8 metres and the outer one is 5 metres in diameter. Within the inner ring, a large recumbent slab aligned north-north-west to south-south-east, measuring 1.6 metres long by 0.25 metres wide may represent the coverstone of an intact cist.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8650 - Great Stannon Newtake, Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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