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Summary

Cairn of 6.5 metres diameter by 0.6 metres high lying a short distance to the north of the northernmost coaxial field boundary. A central hollow is the result of excavation in 1896 which revealed a pit containing charcoal, burnt bone and a flint flake. A group of four edge set stones up to 1 metres high to the south-east are the remains of a stone alignment.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1021339: Coaxial fields, prehistoric settlement, two cairns and a stone alignment in Little Stannon Newtake, 900m south east of Stannon Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SE23
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443809
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/84
• Old SAM Ref: 34498.01

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Worth, R. N., 1896, 15th Report of the Barrow Committee, 84-86 (Article in Serial). SDV17612.

Stannon Bottom. Cairn with two standing stones to the south suggesting the remains of a stone row, probably destroyed to furnish the materials of an ancient hedge. It does not point to the centre of the cairn it had been previously opened, but abandoned when no cist was found. The remainder was intact. A trench disclosed a thick layer of wood-charcoal, resting on the surface level, and 1.22m from the foot of the slope, at NE, a circular hole, urn shaped, dug in the calm was found. Cavity was filled with wood - charcoal and ashes with a few fragments of calcined bone, too small to be identifiable. A finely worked pointed, yellowish translucent flint found; a portion of a long arrowhead. The stone row runs from this cairn to the hedge.

Worth, R. H., 1902, 21st Report of the Barrow Committee, 109, 111, 121, 122 (Article in Serial). SDV20971.

Burnard, R., 1906, Early Man, 362 (Article in Monograph). SDV322231.

440ft WSW of kistvaen (SX68SE-51) is a small cairn 15ft in diameter. Trenched in 1895.

Victoria County History, 1906, The Victoria History of the County of Devon, 362 (Article in Serial). SDV238214.

440ft WSW of kistvaen (SX68SE-51) is a small cairn 15ft in diameter. Trenched in 1895.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1952, SX68SE23 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV256582.

Cairn at Stannon Bottom. NGR SX65338103. Ref to visit by R. H. Worth in 1948.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 146, Lydford 28 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(13/06/1976 ) Cairn just N of NE/SW reave, with possible remains of stone row descending to S excavated by Burnard. Finds are in Plymouth Museum. The cairn is 6.0m diameter and 0.7m high.

Dartmoor National Park Authority, 1982, Various (Plan - measured). SDV320369.

Shown on drawing at above NGR. Other details: Scale 1:10560.

Greeves, T. + Robinson, R., 1983, Survey drawing (Plan - measured). SDV256584.

(19/07/1983) Cairn surveyed, together with the Stannon Stone Row running northward from it.

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

(09/02/1989) SX 65338109. A turf covered cairn on a moorland terrace above Stannon Bottom, in low gorse, long grass and reeds. The cairn measures 6m. N. to S, by 6.5m. E. to W., and is 0.6m high. A squarish hollow in the top presumably results from Burnard's excavation.
(On SMR SX 68 SE 051 for references to Burnard's stone row, the reference to O.S.A. SX 68 SE 24 should read SX 68 SE 23; see SX 68 SE 125)

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 168-169, 243, Map 35, Figure 35.13 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Stannon Newtake W. cairn at SX65318111 of 6.0 metres diameter by 0.7 metres high. Cairn excavated in 1896 revealing an off-centre pit 0.4 metres deep filled with charcoal ash intermixed with a few pieces of burbt bone and a single flake of sharpened flint.

Horner, W., 1993, Comment (Personal Comment). SDV256587.

(15/07/1993) Grinsell and Burnard references previously ascribed to SX68SE-51, but do not appear to refer to a cist with retaining kerb. Entries transferred to this site.

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

Cairn shown on survey.

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

'Cairn' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2023, National Heritage List for England, 1021339 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365228.

The monument, which falls into four separate areas of protection, comprises a group of coaxial fields, an associated prehistoric settlement, two cairns and a stone alignment situated on a west facing slope overlooking the valley of the Stannon Brook. The northern cairn within the monument stands a short distance north of the northernmost field boundary. The cairn survives as a 6.5 metres diameter mound standing up to 0.6 metres high. A shallow hollow in the centre of the mound is the result of an excavation by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in 1896. This work revealed a pit containing charcoal, burnt bone and a flint flake.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV5902 - ARROWHEAD (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
• FDV7601 - HUMAN REMAINS (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC?)

Associated Events

• EDV658 - Excavation of cairn, Bellever Plantation
• EDV8518 - Cairn investigated, Stannon Bottom
• EDV8649 - Little Stannon Newtake, Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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