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Summary

Cairn to the south-west of Penn Beacon of 12 metres diameter by 0.6 metres high with a retaining kerb and a central hollow.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1012697: One of several cairns on the south-west slope of Penn Beacon

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE63
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439285
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/5
• Old SAM Ref: 10759

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Spence Bate, C., 1872, Researches into some Antient Tumuli on Dartmoor, 552-553 (Article in Serial). SDV336926.

A cairn, about forty feet in diameter, from which almost all the stones have been removed and the central cist destroyed. It was surrounded by a circle of upright stones from one to three feet high, and to the west a row of two pairs of stones.

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

'Tumulus' shown on 19th century map.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, Devon County Council RAF/CPE/UK/1890 2291-2293 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1977, SX56SE63 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV138512.

(30/05/1950) A tumulus with a retaining circle, in poor condition. Diameter 12m, height 0.5m.
(24/08/1977) SX 59826225. This cairn, 12.5m. by 11.0m. and 0.8m. high, lies on a clitter strewn slope at 335m. above O.D. It is built of small boulders and is now much disturbed. A circle of eleven stones, one fallen, diameter 7.0m. are within the cairn, and they measure, on average, 0.6m. by 0.3m. and 0.4m. high, proud of the cairn. There is no trace of a double stone row west of the cairn.
1:10 000 survey on P.F.D. (Enlargement Survey at 1:200).

National Monuments Record, 1976, SX5962, 1 (Aerial Photograph). SDV138591.

Photograph taken on 8th April 1976.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 136, Cornwood 4 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Visited on 22nd September 1975. Cairn with inner retaining circle, of which at least 9 stones are still visible. Diameter 13.7 metres, height 0.6 metres.

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

Visible and recorded.

Mercer, R. J., 1987, An Archaeological Field Survey of the Upper Plym Valley, Dartmoor 1982-1986, 23 (Report - Survey). SDV165948.

Mercer's site No 23 is incorrectly referenced to this site.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 74, e7 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Platform circle with stone ring 7 metres internal diameter around flat-topped cairn 0.6 metres high.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 191-3, 213, Map 52, Figure 52.14 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Penn Beacon S cairn '2' at SX59826226 of 13.0 metres diameter by 0.5 metres high in a poor condition and much spread with the interior dug out from the large central hollow. The ring of slabs now partly embedded in the mound may have originally surrounded the base. In 1872 Bate recorded that a short stone row consisting of two pairs of stones descended south-west from this cairn.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5962 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5962 03-MAY-2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2021, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

A roughly oval mound is visible as an earthwork approximately 13 by 12m in size on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards and visualisations derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2017, just above the 330m contour on the south-west facing slopes below Penn Beacon.
A hollow is identifiable cut into the centre on the mound from the south-east.
The mound is probably the remains of a cairn of Bronze Age date.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1012697 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

This cairn is one of several on the south-west slope of Penn Beacon. It is sited on a false crest about 150 metres west of Rook watershed reave and consists of a mound of stone 12 metres in diameter and up to 0.6 metres in height with a retaining kerb. Some of the stones have been moved about by visitors.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

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