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Summary

Reave running from north - south on the eastern slopes of Whittor close to the Langstone Stone Row.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Possible remains of Bronze Age cairn and boundary work or a possible reave to the north of track between Cudlipptown Down and Petertavy Great Common

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57NW24
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439794
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57NW/5/1

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• REAVE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Worth, R. N., 1893, The Stone Rows of Dartmoor, Part 2, 543 (Article in Serial). SDV231164.

Baring Gould, S., 1895, Second Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 83 (Article in Serial). SDV271711.

Baring Gould, S., 1899, Sixth Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 148, figure (Article in Serial). SDV344950.

A very ancient "new take wall" built over the remains of a stone row, which led from a cairn. It is parallel to the row on Langstone Moor and about 60 to 70 yards apart. The bank incorporates the cairn and some of the original standing stones. Shown on plan as a Reave.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950-1951, SX57NW24 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV228288.

Reave. Generally in fairly good condition, and exists as a turf covered bank or wall 3-4 metres in width and 0.5-0.75 metres in height. To the north it finishes some 40 metres short of a later enclosure wall and to the south it finishes at the beginning of a boggy patch of ground.

Royal Air Force, 1964, 58/6399, f65 0039-40 (Aerial Photograph). SDV225273.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 160 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(08/05/1974) Cairn, incorporated in later reave or ruined wall placed north / south.

Fleming, A., 1978, The Prehistoric Landscape of Dartmoor. Part 1: South Dartmoor, 97-123 (Article in Serial). SDV235265.

Probably Lanson [sic?] Moor reave noted by Fleming.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(11/11/1987) The Lanson [sic] Moor reave which crosses a low ridge lies in open, fairly boulder-free moorland pasture. It can be traced from its junction with a substantial stone-faced newtake wall at SX 5496 7892 through a pronounced bend on a high point occupied by a mutilated cairn at SX 5494 7883 to a point at SX 5497 7865 where it sinks into an extensive marsh. Its rather sinuous line is cut by a number of tracks especially towards the southern end where it is heavily defaced.
Composed of boulders, stones and soil with some large in situ orthostats it is on average 3.5 metres wide and 0.5 metres high. There is a noteable accumulation of stony material on the east side (mostly at the southern end); here parts of the bank have been disturbed and partially stripped. A crude rectangular structure measuring approximately 62 metres by 30 metres internally with low boulder and stone banks up to 0.4 metres high is attached to the west side of the linear at SX 5495 7874; its origin and purpose are not clear but it may be the result of desultory disturbance in the area.
The following cannot be established from ground inspection (i) exactly how far the reave extends southwards into the marsh area; (ii) if the northerly extension of the newtake wall (from the junction) overlies the line of the reave as its course would seem to indicate; (iii) the sugestion in the TDA (1899) that the reave is built over a stone row.

Newman, P., 2003, The Langstone Moor Stone Circle, Peter Tavy, Devon and its Prehistoric Environs, 7, figure 2 (Report - Survey). SDV255420.

(10/10/2003) A very substantial linear embankment of earth and stone runs approximately parallel to the stone row between 60 and 80 metres to the west. It measures up to 1.5 metres high in places and has a spread of over 3 metres. It contains some large, upright stones leading 19th century researchers to conclude it originated as a stone row to be later adapted into a boundary. The feature could be considered to be a reave for it has a similar and parallel alignment to the Wittor reave 680 metres to the west and a continuation of it has been fossilized to the north in the form of a modern newtake wall. However, although the southern end of the boundary fades into the marsh at the head of the Colly Brook, it does not re-appear on the southern side of the marsh. The bank is also of notably larger proportions than most reaves, only the Great Western Reave on Roose Tor being of similar size. It is possible therefore that this bank exists in its present proportions as a result of stone clearance, the surrounding area being notably stone free, though no date for this activity is known. Resurveyed at 1:2500 using GPS September 2003.

Newman, P., 2004, Merrivale Range Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV346874.

(10/08/2004) Condition is fair but unstable in places with risk of further loosening of stone.

Probert, S. A. J., 2010, A Condition Survey of the Archaeological Sites of Merrivale Range, Dartmoor Training Area (Report - Survey). SDV360515.

Condition is fair but unstable in places with risk of further loosening of stone.

National Monument Record, 2017, Pastscape (Website). SDV359964.

A 'reave' in the form of a stony bank can be traced from SX54967865 to SX54967892, where it runs into a newtake wall. Its average width is 3.0 metres and its height 0.5 metres. A few large upright stones are visible in the bank but cannot be positively identified as part of a stone row. Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD (citing Barton, J. G., Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 13/10/1978).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7275 - Survey of the Langstone Moor stone circle and other prehistoric monuments nearby
• EDV7441 - Condition survey of the archaeological sites of Merrivale Training Area
• EDV7570 - Condition survey of Merrivale Range training area
• EDV8713 - Merrivale Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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