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Summary

Cuckoo ball field system. In the newtake on cuckoo ball, bordering on the open moor, there are the remains of a complex field system. In the middle of the newtake, north to south, there is a reave like wall with many large stones standing and spread to a width of about 3m. At the south it does not reach the wall of the present field system of blackaton farm, but begins about 15m from this wall and is contiguous with another reave like bank running east-west from the lud brook to the stone wall at the west side of cuckoo ball newtake. About halfway along the north-south reave there is a gap 4m wide, with a stone set across it as if to form a gate. This stone is 1m high, 1 1/2m long, 300mm thick, and is above a slight depression which leads down to the lud brook. This long reave becomes less prominent towards the north, until only the surface of the stones can be seen. In the north newtake wall, in direct line with the reave, there is set a 'pillar stone', 1m high by 300mm by 350mm, with a tare and feather embedded in it. It has the appearance of a boundary stone. The east lateral reave is 2-2.5m wide, bracken covered, height 1.5m. In the east it ends at the lud brook, opposite a little wood. The west lateral branch ends at the newtake wall on the west; it is about 1m high, 350mm wide, with what appears to be a gate 450m wide about halfway to the wall. There are many large stones with dimension at least 1m. About halfway along the north-south reave there is another lateral reave to the west. This is short but has large stones; on the north side of this reave, near the north-south reave, there is an enclosure, sx65ne/289 (checklist).

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Prehistoric field system, comprising reaves and an enclosure on Cuckoo Ball

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX65NE76
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 441250
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX65NE/152

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FIELD SYSTEM (Late Neolithic to Late Iron Age - 3000 BC (Between) to 42 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, 1140-1 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Reaves visible on the aerial photography.

Gaskell-Brown, C. + Hankin, C., 1974 -1978, Ugborough Parish Checklist (Worksheet). SDV161354.

Cuckoo ball field system. In the newtake on cuckoo ball, bordering on the open moor, there are the remains of a complex field system. In the middle of the newtake, north to south, there is a reave like wall with many large stones standing and spread to a width of about 3m. At the south it does not reach the wall of the present field system of blackaton farm, but begins about 15m from this wall and is contiguous with another reave like bank running east-west from the lud brook to the stone wall at the west side of cuckoo ball newtake. About halfway along the north-south reave there is a gap 4m wide, with a stone set across it as if to form a gate. This stone is 1m high, 1 1/2m long, 300mm thick, and is above a slight depression which leads down to the lud brook. This long reave becomes less prominent towards the north, until only the surface of the stones can be seen. In the north newtake wall, in direct line with the reave, there is set a 'pillar stone', 1m high by 300mm by 350mm, with a tare and feather embedded in it. It has the appearance of a boundary stone. The east lateral reave is 2-2.5m wide, bracken covered, height 1.5m. In the east it ends at the lud brook, opposite a little wood. The west lateral branch ends at the newtake wall on the west; it is about 1m high, 350mm wide, with what appears to be a gate 450m wide about halfway to the wall. There are many large stones with dimension at least 1m. About halfway along the north-south reave there is another lateral reave to the west. This is short but has large stones; on the north side of this reave, near the north-south reave, there is an enclosure, sx65ne/289 (checklist).

National Monuments Record, 1977, SX6658, 2/374 (Aerial Photograph). SDV160614.

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

West-east reave extends from SX 66005789 to SX 66275700 - may extend onto moor. North-south reave extends from SX 66085817 to SX 66145794 where it meets the west-east reave. The lateral reave from the north-south reave westwards extends from SX 66105710 to SX 65975750. Visible on 1977 NMR aerial photograph.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, Map 53, 7 (Monograph). SDV337765.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

Map object partly based on this source.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8770 - Archaeological Survey: Ugborough Premier Archaeological Lanscape, Harford and Ugborough

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