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Summary

A round cairn on the summit ridge of Ringmoor Down. This stony cairn which is now turf covered has been much disturbed and has become very spread as a result. The original diameter of 7m is defined by vestiges of a stone kerb on the SW and northern arcs but the overall spread of the cairn is now up to 12.6m. by 0.72m high. No evidence of a cist. Surveyed in March 2022.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1012252: Cairn east of Ringmoor Cottage

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE58
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 438665
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/15
• Old SAM County Ref: 570
• Old SAM Ref: 10584

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CAIRN (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

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

'Tumulus' shown on 19th century map.

Breton, H. H., 1914, Beautiful Dartmoor and its Interesting Antiquities, 13, 56 (Monograph). SDV256843.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1977, SX56NE58, Plan and Photograph (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV256829.

(25/05/1950) Turf covered, slightly mutilated cairn. There are remains of a retaining circle consisting of five stones all standing, visible in south-west quadrant. Diameter 13.0 metres, height 0.5 metres.
(01/06/1977) This cairn is situated below the flat top of Ringmoor Down in a
'false crest' position facing south east, at about 310m OD. Its diameter is 12.0m and height 0.5m. Two contiguous stones on the north and five on the south form part of a kerb circle 6.0m in diameter. They protrude 0.3m from the flat top of the cairn which is eccentrically placed around the circle.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 166, Sheepstor 13 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Visited on 21st June 1974,. Cairn with inner retaining kerb 6.8 metres. In diameter, best preserved on south side. Diameter 12.0 metres, height 0.6 metres.

National Monuments Record, 1978, NMR SX5666, 3/ 247 (Aerial Photograph). SDV254609.

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

Recorded from aerial photograph.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 83 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Indication of a stone ring/ring cairn beneath cairn.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 144-5, Map 49, Figure 49.21 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Ringmoor Down cairn '8' at SX56596668 of 13.0 metres diameter by 0.5 metres high. It has central pitting and has been dug into from the south side revealing about a quarter of a kerbed circle that must originally have been covered by the mound.

Probert, S., 2005, Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV363484.

(14/03/2005) This cairn remains as described by the Ordnance Survey in 1977. The presence of a kerb around the crest of the mound is rather unusual and possibly the result of robbing or reconstruction.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 2015-2017, 2015-2017 Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV361462.

Visible on aerial photograph.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, UPRM-4 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

(26/06/2019) Condition assessed as ?very good by volunteer recorders; no issues recorded.

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

Featured photographed in June 2019.

Ordnance Survey, 2021, MasterMap 2021 (Cartographic). SDV364015.

'Cairn' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1012252 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

Visited in 1964. Round barrow east of Ringmoor Cottage of 12.19 metres In diameter and 0.3 metres high on moorland. Secondary cist visible and retaining kerb exposed.
Visited in 1990. This cairn lies approximately 100 metres north-west of Eylesbarrow Reave on the brow of Ringmoor Down. It is 12 metres in diameter and 0.5 metres in height, with a retaining kerb 6 metres in diameter within the mound, and is best preserved on the southern side. Its uneven surface suggests that it has been partly disturbed. It lies within a few hundred metres of other cairns.

Newman, P., 2022, Ringmoor Down Premier Archaeological Landscape Dartmoor National Park, Devon. A new survey, Table 1 (Report - Survey). SDV365490.

A turf-covered round cairn on the summit ridge of Ringmoor Down. SX 56589 66683. A round cairn on the summit ridge of Ringmoor Down. This stony cairn which is now turf covered has been much disturbed and has become very spread as a result. The original diameter of 7m is defined by vestiges of a stone kerb on the SW and northern arcs but the overall spread of the cairn is now up to 12.6m. by 0.72m high. The mound has been dug into in its centre creating a hollow with a rim surrounding it and a smaller rectangular hollow of 0.78m by 0.49m is visible but no evidence of a cist. Surveyed at 1:100 scale using GPS, March 2022.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7443 - Condition survey of archaeological sites in Ringmoor Training Area
• EDV7569 - Condition survey of Ringmoor Down training area
• EDV8227 - Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV8917 - Survey of the archaeological features on Ringmoor Down

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