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Summary

Western of three cairns on the summit of Shell Tor of 16.5 metres diameter by 1.4 metres high

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1011955: Tor cairn on Shell Top

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE68
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439300
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/62
• Old SAM Ref: 10614

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.

'Shell Top' shown on 19th century map as an oval feature with a triangle in the south-western part.

Rowe, S., 1896, A Perambulation of the Forest of Dartmoor, 173 (Monograph). SDV249697.

Fleming, A. + Collis, J. + Jones, R. L., 1973, A Late Prehistoric Reave System near Cholwich Town, Dartmoor, 20 fig 7 (Article in Serial). SDV358808.

The blocks on Shell Top (SX 59766380) appear to have been moved to form a triangular cist. Around the blocks there is a mound, constructed of small boulders, but not enough to have formed a cairn.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX56SE68, SX56SE68 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV153032.

(19/08/1977) SX 59756379. Shell Top is a small granite tor lying 470m. above OD., and two of the upper blocks are displaced to form a triangular cavity, 2.5m. by 1.5m. maximum, and 0.8m. deep; it is floored by granite and empty. The displacement is almost certainly natural and the resultant cavity is far in excess of the usual cist dimensions. Small boulders have been placed around the tor to form a typical tor cairn, 16.5m. diameter and 1.4m. high; the tor standing 1.4m. above them.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 135, Cornwood 1. (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(25/09/1976) A fairly flat topped cairn built around a tor which projects 1m above it and encloses a structure resembling a triangular cist. Diameter 17m, height 1.3m.

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

Not recorded.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 48 77/E53 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Platform cairn. Ring of orthostats 13.5m in diameter around a flat-topped mound 0.2m high. In centre is a cairn 9.5m diam and 0.5m high with boulder of tor 1.5m above cairn. Disturbed on southern side.

Crossing, W., 1992, Crossing's Dartmoor Worker, (2nd ed 1966: pg 410) (Monograph). SDV351364.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 174, 212, Map 51 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Shell Top Summit cairn '1' at SX59766380 of 16.0 metres diameter by 2.0 metres high. The western cairn on Shell Tor summit surrounds the base of the small tor, its rocks incised with Latin crosses and once an Ordnance Survey station. Many of the stones have slipped downhill, reducing its height and probably covering the rest of the edge set kerb retaining circle visible only around the eastern side.

Probert, S. A. J. + Fletcher, M. J., 2002, Plym Valley survey (Report - Survey). SDV350782.

(31/07/2002) SX 59756379. The tor cairn remains as described by the Ordnance Survey (1977). Later activity on and around this feature is evidenced by an early OS triangulation mark inscribed on the highest part of the tor and a large rectangular pit, possibly of military origin, impinging on the NE side of the cairn.

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

Cairn shown on survey.

Cartographic Engineering, 2006, Dartmoor 2006 1:1250 Aerial Photography (digital) (Aerial Photograph). SDV345590.

Visible on aerial photograph.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1011955 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

This cairn is built around the granite outcrop on the summit of Shell Top, which rises above the cairn. It consists of a mound of small boulders 16.5 metres in diameter and 1.4 metres in height, with the natural outcrop of the tor rising a further 1.4 metres. There is a triangular cavity between the blocks of the tor. This measures 2.5 metres by 1.5 metres in length and width by 0.8 metres in depth and is considered to be a natural feature.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8155 - Plym Valley Survey: EH Project (Feb 2001 - Dec 2002)

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