See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Enclosure visible on aerial photos on the summit of Cox Tor. Recorded during field investigation in 1991.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1011500: Tor cairn forming part of a round cairn cemetery, and a stone hut circle on the summit of Cox Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57NW127
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 919013
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57NW/44/1

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

Bank among the rocks to the north of the triangulation point shown on 19th century map.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Circular bank around the triangulation point shown as 'Cairn' on early 20th century map.

National Monuments Record, 1977, SX5275, 3 (Aerial Photograph). SDV247310.

SX 5307 7618. Enclosure visible on AP's on the summit of Cox Tor.

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

(19/07/1991) On the ground the enclosure is largely discernible. Its W side consists of a rickle of medium size stones along the natural crest of Cox Tor. It is an amorphous feature, but at its S end swings in towards the Tor itself and is better preserved. It is lost in an area of tussocks below the Tor. The feature is visible again on the SE side of the Tor as a 45m length of low rubble walling 1.4m wide and 0.3m high between the Tor and a lesser outcrop. Nothing more of the enclosure is visible on the ground, although a possible E side is marked by a natural scarp on the ground, coinciding with a bank on air photographs.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 82-83, map 31, Figure 31.1 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Site 3 at the 'summit tor' of Cox Tor. The tor rocks support a triangulation pillar on top and an enormous mass of small stones over 2 metres high around the base. Some of these were reorganised into a smaller cairn on the summit as one of the many commemorations on the moor celebrating the 1887 jubilee but the original labour may have been of Bronze Age date. The foundations of a small building less than 2 metres across tucked into the rocks a few metres away was excavated by the Dartmoor Exploation Committee but nothing was found to date it.

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

Visible on aerial photgraph.

Ordnance Survey, 2022, Mastermap 2022 (Cartographic). SDV364674.

Feature shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1011500 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

This monument includes a tor cairn and small stone hut circle situated on the summit of Cox Tor. The cairn has a continuous bank of small stones measuring 9.5 metres wide and 2.5 metres high situated around a 13 metres diameter rock outcrop. The overall diameter of the cairn is 32 metres. The cairn has seen limited damage as a result of three small shelters being constructed into the cairn material. The largest of these measures 6 metres long by 2.3 metres wide and has been largely backfilled with stones. The other two are circular in plan and may be of relatively recent origin. An Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar sits on the eastern side of the cairn bank. This cairn forms part of a round cairn cemetery including two round cairns, two tor cairns and two ring cairns. The stone hut circle lies 11 metres north-east of the cairn and survives as an oval rubble bank. The interior of the structure measures 1.7 metres long by 1.5 metres wide and is defined by a rubble bank 0.9 metres wide standing up to 0.3 metres high. The doorway faces north.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.