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Summary

A well-defined rock shelter has been created within a small granite outcrop at 268m above OD on a moorland hillslope. Previous described as a possible cist. A large cleft in the outcrop was covered possibly in antiquity by a massive granite slab which was levered over the gap and supported on one side by a large boulder. The V-shaped chamber, so formed, measures approximately 1.6m high, 2.3m at its widest and a maximum 3.2m long. There is no evidence that the broad south-facing front has been walled up.
Its origin and function are unclear but when it is viewed from a north-easterly direction it has the appearance of a cromlech.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE80
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439332
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/72

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• (Former Type) CIST? (Constructed, Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• SHELTER (Constructed, Early Bronze Age to Post Medieval - 2200 BC (Between) to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

Rowe, S., 1848, Perambulation of Dartmoor, 160 (Monograph). SDV154476.

Rowe referred to the feature as a cromlech.

Worth, R. N., 1885, 7th Report of the Barrow Committee, 130 (Article in Serial). SDV140196.

Worth called it a natural grouping of rocks.

Worth, R. H., 1902, 21st Report of the Barrow Committee, 137 (Article in Serial). SDV20971.

Worth, R. H., 1934, 53rd Report of the Barrow Committee (Article in Serial). SDV345863.

A cist mentioned on Hawks Tor or Oxter.

Worth, R. H., 1938, 57th Report of the Barrow Committee, 159? (Article in Serial). SDV320309.

Beckerlegge, J. J., 1938, Seventh Report of the Plymouth and District Branch, 159 (Article in Serial). SDV139895.

A vein of quartz was found in the coverstone the same as in the rocks of the V shaped shelter, but running in a different direction. The coverstone must have been levered or swung in an anti-clockwise direction through an angle of 90 degrees to make a shelter of what was previously an opening between two vertical walls of rock.

Worth, R. H., 1941, 60th Report on Barrows, 53, Plan (Article in Serial). SDV302703.

A rock shelter at the summit of Hawk's Tor (SX 554625) said by Worth to be a natural group of rocks, but Rowe regards it as a cromlech. It has been found that the cover stone has been moved to its present position.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX56SE80 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV146192.

(30/09/1980) Hawks Tor. At the summit stands a rock shelter, V shaped in plan with a coverstone.
The rock shelter at SX 55396250 is as described and planned by Worth. (See ground photograph).

Fletcher, M. + Probert, S., 1998, Shaugh Moor, Devon: An Archaeological Survey (Report - Survey). SDV343481.

(03/12/1997) A well-defined rock shelter has been created within a small granite outcrop at 268m above OD on a moorland hillslope (SX55396250). A large cleft in the outcrop was covered possibly in antiquity by a massive granite slab which was levered over the gap and supported on one side by a large boulder. The V-shaped chamber, so formed, measures approximately 1.6m high, 2.3m at its widest and a maximum 3.2m long. There is no evidence that the broad south-facing front has been walled up.
Its origin and function are unclear but when it is viewed from a north-easterly direction it has the appearance of a cromlech.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4967 - Shaugh Moor Survey (1997-1998)

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