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Summary

Long Pillow mound of 54 metres by 1.7 metres within the rabbit warren on the west side of Littaford Tors

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020876: Prehistoric settlement, field system and rabbit warren south of Longaford Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Archaeological Record: SX67NW72
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/117/16
• Old SAM Ref: 34551(P)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• PILLOW MOUND (Constructed, XI to XIX - 1001 AD (Between) to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

National Monuments Record, 1969, SX6176, 1/ 37-41 (Aerial Photograph). SDV249653.

Photograph taken on 12th April 1969.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1978, SX67NW72, SX67NW72 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV254256.

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

Probable trenches for military purposes. Visible on 1969 NMR aerial photographs.

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

(05/05/1989) Type 3. Two extremely long mounds 54 and 107m respectively, situated on the W side of Littaford Tors. These are narrowest of all at 2.5-3m and average 0.7m high. Construction is of earth and stone, often with large stones placed deliberately along the basal edges. Large, natural boulders are occasionally incorporated into the mound or interrupt the slight flanking ditches where the effort needed to remove them was both too great and pointless. Mound 21 terminates on the W against a large, natural outcrop. Contrary to Royal Commission APP (1985) identification, these mounds are not military targets.

Pattison, P., 1989, Cherrybrook and Longaford Survey, Plan (Report - Survey). SDV337021.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 157020 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Visited on 22nd April 2002. Pillow mound 50 metres west of Littaford Tors, forming part of a rabbit warren on the western slopes of Longaford and Littaford Tors. Mound 1.7 metres wide with a ditch 1 metres wide by 0.4 metres deep. Terminates at the western end against two very substantial rocks with two smaller rocks at the eastern end. Grass and bilberry.

English Heritage, 2005, Survey Information (miscellaneous date) (Report - Survey). SDV345855.

Pillow mound shown on survey.

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

Pillow mound shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1020876 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

The two pillow mounds near Littaford Tors are much longer than the others, measuring 54 metres and 107 metres long.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8644 - Cherrybrook and Longford Newtake, Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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