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Summary

Survives as a 9 metre diameter mound standing up to 0.9 metres high with a number of edge set stones on the western side. The mound material extends 1.4 metres beyond the outer edge of the kerb. A hollow in the centre of the cairn represents the site of a partial early excavation, which recovered a few fragments of burnt bone. Two large stones sitting within the central pit may be the remnants of a broken cist coverstone.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1017873: Round cairn 250m south east of Winter Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX69SW11
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 444160
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX69SW/14
• Old SAM County Ref: 486
• Old SAM Ref: 28670

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CIST (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC? (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• ROUND CAIRN (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 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.

Prowse, A. B., 1890, Notes on the Neighbourhood of Taw Marsh, North Dartmoor, 187-188, figs 2,3 (Article in Serial). SDV239781.

About 300 yards south-south-east of Winter Tor is a tumulus diameter 9 yards and height 3 feet, the top of which has been hollowed out. Within the hollow was a granite slab 4 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 9 inches, covering the remains of a cist, and another slab approximately 4 feet 9 inches by 3 feet 3 inches, either a second capstone or possibly part of the first cist. The cist contained nothing of interest except a few small porous and very brittle fragments of what is apparently bony tissue. After examination the capstone was replaced and covered with soil and stones.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX69SW11 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV224128.

Turf and heather covered cairn with hollow in centre. A cist is partially visible at the bottom, with north-north-end end stone (Recorded 8/8/1950).

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 143, Lydford 1 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

South-east of Winter Tor SX6110 9134 (Visited 22/5/1976)
Cairn with hollow centre, containing cist placed north-north-east by south-south-west. Measures 9.0 metres in diameter, height 0.8 metres. Capstone in two parts, probably originally one slab.
Excavated in 19th century. Fragments probably of burnt human bone found (citing Prowse, 1890).

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 144109 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(18/06/1997) Round cairn south east of Winter Tor (at SX61109133).
Further from Winter Tor than stated by Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments in England above. The cist-like structure described by Field Monument Warden in vicinity of cairn are stone cutting pits, beyond which are earthworks associated with peat cutting.
Central pit 2.5 metres by 1.8 metres by 0.8 metres deep, contains two large slabs, both tilting and therefore not in-situ. The largest denotes the western side of the pit, and measures 1.2 metres by 0.8 metres. The other, 0.85 metres by 0.75 metres, lies in the centre of the pit.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 209, Map 40, Site '15' (Monograph). SDV219155.

Higher Tor S cairn at SX61109134 of 8.5 metres diameter by 1.0 metres high with a cist. Well preserved cairn with the tops of a retaining circle showing within the edge of the mound which appears to be undamaged except for the deep pit at the centre. Within the pit two slabs remain of a cist, the backing stones of one of them clearly visible within the body of the mound. In 1889 the contents of the cist were investigated with only some fragments of 'bony tissue' found.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1993-1998, Dartmoor Royal Forest Project, P. Newman (Report - Survey). SDV346608.

(14/07/1993) SX 61119134. A circular, turf and heather covered stony cairn which lies in the dip in the ridge between Higher Tor and Oke Tor, approximately 70 metres south-east of Winter Tor.
It has a diameter of 10 metres and stands to a height of approximately 0.8 metres. Its profile is `bowl' shaped with a flat topped central area and moderately sloping edges. The centre has been dug into leaving a conical hollow of 2.4 metres diameter by 0.6 metres deep. Within the hollow lie two slabs of granite which are probably components of a cist, disturbed during excavations in the nineteenth century. They measure 0.8 metres by 0.6 metres and 1.0 metre by 0.8 metres.

Probert, S. A. J. + Newman, P., 2003-2004, Measured survey North Dartmoor Military Range Okehampton Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey, M. J. Fletcher (Report - Survey). SDV350801.

(04/02/2004) The remains of this disturbed ridge-top cairn are as described. No change to its condition.

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

Cairn shown on survey.

GeoInformation Group Ltd, 2010, 1:625 2010 Colour aerial photography for Dartmoor (12.5cm resolution) (Aerial Photograph). SDV346026.

Visible on aerial photograph.

Ordnance Survey, 2017, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359962.

'Cairn' depicted on the modern mapping.

Historic England, 2017, National Heritage List for England, 1017873 (National Heritage List for England). SDV359963.

The monument includes a round cairn situated on the ridge between Higher Tor and Oke Tor overlooking the valleys of the East Okement and Taw Rivers. The cairn survives as a 9 metres diameter mound standing up to 0.9 metres high. A number of edge set stones on the western side of the mound may indicate the presence of a kerb which survives elsewhere as a buried feature. The mound material extends 1.4 metres beyond the outer edge of the kerb. A hollow in the centre of the cairn represents the site of a partial early excavation, which recovered a few fragments of burnt bone. Two large stones sitting within the central pit may be the remnants of a broken cist cover stone.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV6635 - HUMAN REMAINS? (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC?)

Associated Events

• EDV8543 - Excavation of cairn near Winter Tor
• EDV8544 - Excavation of cairn south-east of Winter Tor
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8679 - Okehampton Range: Management Survey
• EDV8291 - Okehampton Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV8695 - Survey of Okehampton North Dartmoor Military Range

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