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Summary

Ring cairn and cist on summit ridge of Cawsand Hill. Cairn forms part of a cemetery including at least 2 round cairns, 2 ring cairns and one platform cairn. Earthwork survives as a 2 metres wide and 0.4 metres high circular rubble bank, faced with close set stones around its outer edge and surrounds an internal area measuring 18 metres east to west by 17 metres north to south. A mound measuring 6metres in diameter and 0.2 metres high stands in the centre of the area enclosed by the circular bank and contains a stone cist with 2 slabs surviving.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1010770: Ring cairn 140m north east of Cawsand Beacon forming part of a cairn cemetery on the summit of Cawsand Hill

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX69SW15
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 444166
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX69SW/24
• Old SAM County Ref: 785C
• Old SAM Ref: 24145
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX69SW15

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Rowe, S., 1896, A Perambulation of the Royal Forest of Dartmoor and the venville precincts, 43 (Monograph). SDV249697.

Worth, R. H., 1902, 21st Report of the Barrow Committee, 114 (Article in Serial). SDV20971.

Falcon, T. A., 1905, Dartmoor: A Note on Graves, 458-9 (Article in Serial). SDV255372.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/3G/TUD/138, 5441 (Aerial Photograph). SDV229649.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX69SW15 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV222095.

(09/08/1950) SX 6371 9159 A large cairn (diameter 18.0m, height 0.5m) which has been mutilated by stone robbers. The centre of the cairn has been removed leaving a ring-cairn effect. In the approx centre are two large flat stones which may be the remains of a cist but neither is earthfast and it is not possible to come to any definite conclusion about them. One of two cairns on Cosdon (see also MDV6895).

Ancient Monuments, 1970, Schedule note (Schedule Document). SDV271236.

(18/03/1970) Barrow with stone kerb visible and remains of kist in centre.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 169 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(30/05/1976) B: SX6379160. The remains of a cairn; two slabs in the centre are possibly the cist. Diameter 20.0m, height 0.3m.

Weston, S., 1983, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1983 (Un-published). SDV343247.

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

Visible and recorded: it is like a hut circle in appearance.

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

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 39, 71, fig 25/B14 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Ring cairn. Embanked stone circle with inner bank. Internal diameter 18m E-W, 17m N-S, with bank 1.3m wide and 0.3m high. Cist in centre.

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

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 133335 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(17/01/1994) Ring cairn and cist on summit ridge of Cawsand Hill. Cairn forms part of a cemetery including at least two round cairns, two ring cairns and one platform cairn.
SX Earthwork survives as a 2m wide and 0.4m high circular rubble bank, faced with close set stones around its outer edge and surrounds an internal area measuring 18m east-west by 17m north-south.
A mound measuring 6m in diameter and 0.2m high stands in the centre of the area enclosed by the circular bank and contains a stone cist with two slabs surviving. This cist was visited and described by Rowe in the first half of the 19th century and at this time it included an eight feet square structure apparently exhibiting traces of an inner coffin.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 206-7, 244, Map 40, Figure 40.8 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Cosdon Beacon cairn '3' at SX63719159 of circa 18.0 metres diameter by 0.4 metres high to the north-east of Cosdon Beacon. The bank of 1.2 metres wide has an outer kerb of close set slabs surrounding an interior of 16 metres by 15.5 metres. Nothing now can be made of the few slabs partly covered by turf recorded in 1848 when they were described as "arranged in a square 8 feet across surrounding a coffin".

Radcliffe, B., 2000, Email regarding cist sites on Cosdon Hill (Correspondence). SDV270324.

(24/02/2000) Radcliffe states that the dilapidated kistvaen 8 ft square on Cosdon summit is the same as SX69SW/40 at SX 63589104 (MDV6914; uncertain site).

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

Visible on aerial photograph.

Environment Agency WMS, 2019, LiDAR DSM data (1m resolution), 2019 (Cartographic). SDV362957.

Ordnance Survey, 2023, Mastermap 2023 (Cartographic). SDV365227.

Cairn with 'Cist' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2023, National Heritage List for England, 1010770 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365228.

This monument includes a ring cairn and cist situated on the summit ridge of Cawsand or Cosdon Hill. The cairn forms part of a cemetery including at least two round cairns, two ring cairns and one platform cairn. The earthwork survives as a 2 metres wide and 0.4 metres high rubble bank, faced with close set stones around its outer edge, surrounding a circular internal area measuring 18 metres east to west by 17 metres north to south. A mound measuring 6 metres in diameter and 0.2 metres high stands in the centre of the area enclosed by the circular bank and contains a stone cist with two slabs surviving. This cist was visited and described by Rowe in the first half of the 19th century and at this time it included an eight feet square structure apparently exhibiting traces of an inner coffin.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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