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Summary

Cairn with cist to the east of Deadman's Bottom. Cairn of 5.5 metres diameter by 0.4 metres high with a cist of 0.86 metres by 0.48 metres covered by a coverstone 1.44 metres long by 0.94 metres wide

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1015751: Round cairn and cist 560m north of Grim's Grave

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66NW31
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 441647
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66NW/41
• Old SAM Ref: 28791

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Worth, R. H., 1934, 53rd Report of the Barrow Committee, 40 (Article in Serial). SDV345863.

Kistvaen, Deadmans Bottom. This is an unusual example in that the coverstone is still over the kist. None the less it appears to have been rifled, the end and side stones having been displaced at the north east and south west angles. The original internal length appears to have been 864 millimetres width by 483 millimetres. The greatest length of the coverstone is 1.448 metres, its greatest width 940 millimetres.

Worth, R. H., 1943, 62nd report on barrows, 40 (Article in Serial). SDV165840.

Cist (Listed as 'F' by Worth) found at Deadman's Bottom, Langcombe, by Mr. Button. The cover-stone is still in position but the cist appears to have been rifled, the end and side-stones having been displaced at the north-east and southwest angles. Original length would appear to have been 2 feet 10 inches, and the width 1 foot 7 inches. The greatest length of the cover-stone is 4ft 9 inches and its greatest width 3 feet 1 1/2 inches.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1978, SX66NW31 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV152010.

(16/05/1950) The kistvaen lies in a small cairn, 5 metres in diameter and 0.3 metres in height.
(12/09/1978) At about 415m. OD, on a slight west slope, is a turf-covered cairn 5.5m. in diameter and 0.4m. high. A cover-stone 1.5m. long by 0.6m. wide and 0.3m. thick conceals the underlying cist.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 163 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Visited on 19th September 1975. Cairn enclosing cist, placed south-south-east to north-north-west. Diameter 5.5 metres and height 0.3 metres.

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

Not visible on RAF 1946/7 aerial photographs.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 140511 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(12/06/1996) AT SX61196697. Round cairn containing a cist. The cairn mound measures 5.5m in diameter, stands up to 0.6m and has been excavated to reveal a cist orientated south-south-east to north-north-west. The cist is still covered by a large cover slab, which measures 1.44m by 0.94m. The cover slab has however been displaced and now sits slightly diagonally over the cist. The interior of the cist measures 0.86m by 0.48m.
The edge of the cairn is denoted in at least 2 places by edge set stones which indicate the presence of a kerb which may survive elsewhere as a buried feature.
A second cairn recorded by the National Trust Upper Plym Inventory as site no.102 1222 at SX61156692 is considered to represent the remnants of a linear feature such as a boundary wall. This feature is not included within the monument because its extent and character could not be determined.

Robertson, J. G., 1991, The Archaeology of the Upper Plym (Post-Graduate Thesis). SDV166324.

Depicted and described by Robertson.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 150-3, Map 50, Figures 50.2 & 50.2.1 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Langcombe Brook '11' cairn at SX61206698 of 5.5 metres diameter by 0.4 metres high with a cist is set well back from the stream near the north end of Deadman's Bottom. It remains a substantial mound partly surrounded by an outer ring of stones. According to Worth the cist remains intact beneath the bulky cover slab, replaced into position presumably by the cairn diggers.

Thackray, C., 1994, The Upper Plym Valley: the management of an historic landscape, 298/102.1170 (Report - non-specific). SDV143510.

Probert, S. A. J. + Fletcher, M. J., 2002, Plym Valley survey (Report - Survey). SDV350782.

(22/08/2001) SX 61206698. A flat-topped cairn measuring 5.4m in diameter and standing a maximum of 0.4m high. A well-preserved cist 1.3m long, 0.6m wide and 0.15m deep is largely obscured by the coverstone recorded in 1978.

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

Visible on aerial photograph.

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

'Cairn' with a rectangular cist shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1015751 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

This monument includes a round cairn containing a cist overlooking Deadmans Bottom and forming part of a dispersed group of funerary monuments. The cairn mound measures 5.5 metres in diameter, stands up to 0.6 metres and has been excavated to reveal a cist orientated south-south-east to north-north-west. The cist is still covered by a large cover slab, which measures 1.44 metres long by 0.94 metres wide. The cover slab has however been displaced and now sits slightly diagonally over the cist. The interior of the cist measures 0.86 metres long by 0.48 metres wide. The edge of the cairn is denoted in at least two places by edge set stones which indicate the presence of a kerb which may survive elsewhere as a buried feature.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8148 - The Upper Plym Valley: The Management of an Historic Landscape

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