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Summary

Heavily disturbed remains of a large, flat-topped cairn lie on the ridge crest 230 metres north of Birch Tor. The spread, heather-covered mound measures 16 metres north to south by 18 metres and a maximum of 1.8 metres high on the west. The centre and southern margin of this feature have apparently suffered from an unrecorded excavation with spoil dumped to the south and on the eastern fringe of the mound. Two large upright slabs are embedded in the unexcavated interior of the cairn and may have previously been interpreted as elements of a kerb even though they lie several metres in from the actual edge of the feature

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1021341: Round cairn and Headland Warren boundary stone 210m north of Birch Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SE16
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443799
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/90
• Old SAM Ref Revised: 34500

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

'Tumulus' shown on 19th century map.

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

'Tumulus' shown on early 20th century map.

Worth, R. H., 1937, 56th Report of the Barrow Committee, 80, 95 (Article in Serial). SDV20973.

Cairn on the summit of Birch Tor destroyed partly by a contractor in 1925. He started to break up the stones of the retaining circle till stopped by Worth. The retaining wall was well within the margin of the cairn. Large slab set to lean inwards at an angle of about 30 degrees.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card, 1952, SX68SE16, SX68SE16 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV306151.

Visited on 13th October 1952. The tumulus, diameter 14.0 metres, 0.50 metres in height, is in good condition. But the retaining circle was not clearly defined on the ground.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 158, North Bovey 1 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Visited on 24th July 1972. Cairn damaged in 1925 when a retaining wall of inwards-leaning slabs was exposed. Diameter 17.0 metres, height 2.0 metres.

National Monuments Record, 1979, SF1508, 21 (Aerial Photograph). SDV346563.

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

Visible on aerial photograph and recorded.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 83 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Indication of stone ring/ring cairn beneath cairn.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 238, Map 24 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Birch Tor summit cairn at SX68668163 of 17.0 metres diameter by 2.0 metres high. The cairn slightly west of the summit was badly damaged by a road contractor in 1925. Much material had been removed from the interior and the southern half exposing a kerb of large slabs leaning inwards towards the centre. The original dimensions are uncertain but the present diameter is about 17 metres and the cairn stands 2 metres above ground on the western side.

Dick, A. M., 1992, Birch Tor summit cairn (Site Visit). SDV306155.

Visited on 17th may 1992. Oval, with east to west orientation. Circa 9 metres by 5 metres by 1 metre high. Deep ditch on south side with circular depression 1 metres deep, 2 metres diameter, to south-west. The mound stands 1 metre above ground level on north side, 2.5 metres above base of ditch. No stone visible.

Newman, P., 2002, Headland Warren and the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mines (Report - Survey). SDV363213.

(Visited 10/10/2000) SX 6866 8163. The heavily disturbed remains of a large, flat-topped cairn lie on the ridge crest 230 metres north of Birch Tor. The spread, heather-covered mound measures 16 metres north to south by 18 metres and a maximum of 1.8 metres high on the west. The centre and southern margin of this feature have apparently suffered from an unrecorded excavation with spoil dumped to the south and on the eastern fringe of the mound. Two large upright slabs are embedded in the unexcavated interior of the cairn and may have previously been interpreted as elements of a kerb even though they lie several metres in from the actual edge of the feature.

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

Shown on survey.

English Heritage, 2015, National Heritage List for England, 1021341 (National Heritage List for England). SDV357602.

The monument includes a round cairn and warren boundary stone situated near the summit of Birch Tor overlooking extensive parts of central Dartmoor. The cairn survives as an 18 metres diameter flat-topped mound standing up to 2.2 metres high. A substantial hollow on the southern side of the mound represents the site of partial stone robbing by a road contractor in 1925. This work revealed an internal stone kerb, two slabs of which are still visible in the undisturbed part of the cairn.

Environment Agency WMS, 2019, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution), 2019 (Cartographic). SDV362956.

Visible on Lidar data.

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

'Tumulus' shown on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7139 - Headland Warren and the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mines Survey (Ref: A1/20/2001, A1/34/2002)

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