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Summary

A rabbit bury or pillow mound of probable medieval to post-medieval date has been recorded as an earthwork by field and aerial survey, overlying tin streamworking spoil dumps within the streambed of the Blacka Brook. The mound is identifiable as an earthwork mound on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards and visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1014664: Pillow mound 860m NNW of Blackaton Cross, forming part of Trowlesworthy Warren

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX 56 SE 66
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/198/84/3
• Old SAM Ref: 24249

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• PILLOW MOUND (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Crossing, W., 1912 (1965), Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor, 431 (Monograph). SDV320981.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/3G/TUD/UK/223, RAF/3G/TUD/UK/223 Vp2 5143-5144 12-JUL-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV352279.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 130638, 30/6/1994 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Pillow mound forming part of Trowlesworthy Warren. Survives as a 29.7 metre by 7.5 metre by 1.1 metre high, flat topped, oblong shaped mound of soil and stone surrounded on four sides by the 2 metre wide and 0.4 metre deep ditch from which construction material was quarried. The ends of the mound are roughly revetted with drystone walling.
It lies on top of earlier alluvial tin streamworking earthworks and therefore is clearly more recent than the last phase of tin exploitation in this part of the Blacka Brook.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, Map 51 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5763 03-MAY-2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

A mound is visible as an earthwork.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5663 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

A mound is identifiable as an earthwork.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

Depicted on the modern mapping.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2020, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

An oblong mound approximately 30m long and 7.5m wide is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards, overlying tin streamworking spoil dumps within the streambed of the Blacka Brook.
The mound is probably the remains of a rabbit bury or pillow mound of medieval to post-medieval date.
The complexity of earthworks in this area mean that although the mound is identifiable as an earthwork from the sources available to the survey, it is difficult to distinguish from the surrounding linear streamwork earthworks.
A ditch up to 1.5m wide, made probably to improve drainage. is identifiable on three sides of the mound. It cannot be identified on the north-west side with any confidence from the available sources.
The mound and ditch remain identifiable on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7369 - Survey of Granite Loading Bays at Trowlesworthy, Devon
• EDV8148 - The Upper Plym Valley: The Management of an Historic Landscape
• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

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