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Summary

Small, round cairn 7 metres diameter and 0.4 metres high. It forms part of a linear progression of cairns running roughly south-east to north-west across the hillside parallel to the River Mardle.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019270: Four cairns 560m east of Hapstead Ford and 1660m east of Ryder's Hill, forming part of a cairn cemetery in the Mardle Valley

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66NE3
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 441357
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66NE/29
• Old SAM Ref: 28766

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CAIRN (Constructed, Early Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 4000 BC (Between) to 1501 BC (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX66NE3 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV146342.

(21/04/1950) Cairn 'a'. A small dilapidated cairn.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX66NE3 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV146433.

(26/06/1977) Three cairns lie on a steep south-west facing slope between 395 metres and 380 metres above OD.
Field Investigation on 6th January 1997. Cairn 'A' at SX 67636916 is a small, round cairn 7 metres diameter and 0.4 metres high. It forms part of a linear progression of cairns running roughly south-east to north-west across the hillside parallel to the River Mardle.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 142 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Site visited on 9th October 1975. Cairn, diameter 7 metres, 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 aerial photograph.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 152230 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(19/09/1999) Cairn at SX67616922 forming part of a cairn cemetery in the Mardle Valley.
Round cairn. Diameter 8m, height 0.4m. A small trench leading in from the north-west is 1.5m long by 1m wide and 0.2m deep. Gorse bilberry and heather.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, 172-3, Map 58, Figure 548.8 (Monograph). SDV337765.

Mardle Valley '2' cairn at SX 67616922 of 7.0 metres diameter by 0.3 metres high is an inconspicuous mound but its uneven surface shows it has been mutilated.

Probert, S. A. J. + Newman, P., 1997, Holne Moor, Dartmoor, Devonshire. A Landscape Survey by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (Report - Survey). SDV173671.

(06/01/1997) Centred SX 67716905. These features are as described in 1977 though the NGRs should read:
A, SX 67636916
B, SX 67726904
C, SX 67626896
An additional cairn (D) lies at SX 67806893. This ovoid feature measures 4.5m N to S by 5.2m and stands 1.1m high. An amorphous hollow roughly 1.0m in diameter is situated in the centre of the mound.
A, B and D form part of a linear progression of cairns running roughly SE to NW across the hillside parallel to the River Mardle. Their line is extended by a ring cairn (SX 66 NE 66) to the NW.

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

Cairn shown on survey.

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

'Cairn' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1019270 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

The monument, which falls into four areas of protection, includes four cairns, forming part of a cairn cemetery situated on a gentle south facing slope overlooking the valley of River Mardle. The second cairn lies to the south-east and survives as an 8 metres diameter mound standing up to 0.4 metres high. Hollows and trenches cutting into all four cairns indicate that they have been subjected to early undocumented investigations.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7100 - Holne Moor Survey

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