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Summary

The remains of a turf-covered cairn located on a west-facing slope at 253m above OD and adjacent to the line of the reave. It measures 8.9m to 10.5m across and is 0.8m high. Four or five kerb stones are visible mostly in the north-west quadrant; two are 0.4m high. The cairn has been disturbed and debris partially infills a robbing trench of the terminal reave (SX 56 SE 78). Investigated and surveyed at 1:2500 scale as part of the RCHME Shaugh Moor project in 1997.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Bronze age landscapes on Shaugh Moor and Wooter Moor comprising earthworks and walling of enclosures, hut circles, cairns, stone circles and rows, reaves and field systems, and medieval and post medieval field systems
• Scheduled Monument 1003824: Barrow near Shaugh Cross

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE48
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439245
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/82
• Old SAM County Ref: 275

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

Barrow diameter 12 metres, heig 1.0 metre, with a retaining circle.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'Tumulus' shown on early 20th century map.

Worth, R. H., 1946, The Stone Rows of Dartmoor. Part 1, 291 (Article in Serial). SDV251172.

Barrow. A barrow lies 109.7 metres west from the retaining circle (SX56SE/24) of the stone row on Shaugh Moor. There is a kerb of stones visible and a wider spread of material up to 12.19 metres.

Royal Air Force, 1964, RAF/58/6399, RAF/58/6399 F64 0382-0383 02-JUL-1964 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363068.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

National Monuments Record, 1976, NMR SX5563, 1 (Aerial Photograph). SDV138651.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 165, Shaugh Prior 40 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(Visited 27/7/1972 and 8/5/1976) Cairn with retaining circle. Diameter 12.0 metres, height 1.0 metre.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX56SE48 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV145790.

(Visited 27/8/1980) A turf bracken covered cairn, (not on but skirted by a reave, SX 56 SE 78), with a diameter of 11.2 metres and a height of 0.9 metres. Three stones of retaining circle are visible in the north quadrant, others are apparently concealed by overspill. (See ground photograph and 1:2500 plan). Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD.

Robinson, R., 1982, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1982 (Un-published). SDV345608.

Department of Environment Field Monument Warden site visit 21st April 1982.

Collis, J., 1983, Field Systems and Boundaries on Shaugh Moor and at Wotter, Dartmoor, 55 fig 1 (Article in Serial). SDV144058.

Adjacent to the Wotter - Cadover Bridge road there is a cairn on the line of the Saddlesborough Main Reave (SX56SE-115). Measures 6 - 7 metres in diameter with traces of a kerb. Reave is too disturbed to establish a relationship.

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

Visible on 1976 aerial photographs and recorded on map overlay.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 73/E2 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Platform circle at Shaugh Cross. Only a few stones left in circle, 12 metres diameter. Central flat topped cairn 0.7 metres high.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 104-6, Map 48 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Saddlesborough reave cairn at SX55326345 of 11.0 metres diameter by 1.4 metres high. Large cairn against the north side of the reave with part of the retaining circle remaining despite deep gouges into its base. It has a hollowed top.

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

(01/12/1997) SX55326346. The remains of a turf-covered cairn located on a west-facing slope at 253 metres above Ordnance Datum and adjacent to the line of the reave. It measures 8.9 metres to 10.5 metres across and is 0.8 metres high. Four or five kerb stones are visible mostly in the north-west quadrant; two are 0.4 metres high. The cairn has been disturbed and debris partially infills a robbing trench of the terminal reave (SX 56 SE 78).

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5563 03-MAY-2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

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

Cairn shown on survey.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5563 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, SM24 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

Visited 04/09/2019. The Royal Commission 1997 site description is good. There are two lightly used vehicle farm tracks to the north and south of cairn. Tracks start as one track from the road and go through the drainage channel pinch point then separates to pass either side of the cairn as shown on map. No damage to the cairn is being caused by tracks. The site is stable. Photo taken

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs, SM24 (Photograph). SDV363073.

Visited 04/09/2019. A photo taken looking south showing the cairn kerb stones on the north west quadrant

Ordnance Survey, 2019, MasterMap 2019 (Cartographic). SDV362729.

Cairn is depicted on the modern mapping.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2020, 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 circa 9.5m to 11m across is identifiable as an earthwork on aerial photographs of 1964, digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2007 and visualisations derived from low resolution lidar data captured in 2013, on the west-facing slopes of Shaugh Moor.
The earthwork mound is interpreted as the possibly spread remains of a cairn or barrow of probable of Bronze Age date.
A hollow from the south-west to north-east side of the mound might be evidence of historic robbing or the cairn or adjacent reave.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1003824 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

This monument includes a round cairn situated on a gentle south facing slope of Shaugh Moor overlooking the valley of the River Plym. The cairn stands adjacent to and north of the terminal reave of the Shaugh Moor coaxial field system and forms part of a cluster of cairns associated with a stone alignment. The cairn survives as a 12 metres diameter mound standing up to 1.0 metres high and a hollow in its centre suggests robbing or partial early excavation. The northern side of the mound is defined by a stone kerb standing up to 0.5 metres high which may survive elsewhere as a buried feature.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4967 - Shaugh Moor Survey (1997-1998)
• 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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