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Summary

Ring cairn of 16 metres diameter by 0.25 metres high north-east of White Hill. The interior has been heavily disturbed and there are a number of upcast mounds and depressions. A slit trench lies to the south of this cairn.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1008752: Ring cairn 80m north-east of White Hill summit, forming part of the White Hill round cairn cemetery

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX58SW6
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 440678
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX58SW/24
• Old SAM Ref: 20344

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• RING 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.

Northern of a row of three 'Tumuli' shown on 19th century map.

Baring Gould, S., 1888, 10th Report of the Barrow Committee, 47 (Article in Serial). SDV222380.

On the summit of White Down (a portion of Black Down) which rises to 1280 feet are numerous cairns, large and small, mostly rifled.

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

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/2149, 4290 (Aerial Photograph). SDV282746.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1979, SX58SW6, Cairn A (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV214712.

(24/10/1950) Barrow A (diameter 15.0m, height 0.25m). Remains of tumulus. Very much despoiled. The greater part of the mound has been removed, but the former extent can be traced by a low circular bank round the perimeter. The condition is poor. The barrow is one of three on white down.
(13/08/1979) The three published cairns on the summit of White Down have been
destroyed. (See also SX 58 SW 103).
'A' and 'B' are just traceable as stripped circular patches 13.0m in diameter, each surrounded by a faint rim 1.0m wide and 0.1m high.
At 'B' there is an irregular patch of stones outside the eastern perimeter which have evidently been taken from the former cairn.
Both sides are heather covered. No trace of cairn 'C' could be found.
Shown as cairns on MSD.

Ordnance Survey, 1963-1996, 1963-1996 National Grid OS Metric (Cartographic). SDV350058.

(A - SX 53498389; B - SX 53428385; C - SX 53438350) Tumuli (NR) [1965 edition].

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 159 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Grinsell failed to find site June 1974. 'Cairn mostly removed except for circumferential rim. Diameter 15m, height 0.2m' (Ridyard, 1950, OS).

Fleming, A., 1980, The Cairnfields of North-West Dartmoor, 11 (Article in Serial). SDV251119.

The White Hill South cairnfield consists of almost 8 cairn around SX535838; most are in a group to the SSE of the hill top, with one or two further East.

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

Recorded from Royal Air Force verticals.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 66/A11 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Turner identifies this site as a ring cairn. Stone ring 13.2m internal diameter, with bank 1m wide and 0.3m high.

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

(1992) Survives as flat internal area, diameter 13m, surrounded by circular bank 1.8m wide and 0.15m high. Central hollow 8.5m long by 1.3m wide by 0.15m deep. Possibly a badly robed round cairn, but the circular bank suggests a ring cairn.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 106-8, 242, Map 32, Figure 32.6 (Monograph). SDV219155.

White Hill cairn '9' at SX53448390 of 16.0 metres diameter by 0.1 metres high. The circular bank surrounds a flat interior only marred by a small trench on one side.

Probert, S. + Fletcher, M. + Newman, P., 1998, Willsworthy Training Area, Peter Tavy, Devon: An Archaeological survey by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (Report - Survey). SDV350638.

(29/07/1998) The three cairns located on the summit area at 381m above OD have been extensively robbed and damaged.
SX53448389. A slight stony rim some 16.5m in overall diameter and up to 0.25m high is all that survives. The interior has been heavily disturbed and there are a number of upcast mounds and depressions. A slit trench lies to the south of this cairn.
The cairns are composed of sandstone, shale and soil and they are covered by heather moorland.

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.

Historic England, 2023, National Heritage List for England, 1008752 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365228.

This monument includes a ring cairn situated near the summit of White Hill. The earthwork appears as a flat internal area measuring 13 metres in diameter surrounded by a circular bank 1.8 metres wide and 0.15 metres high. A shallow hollow in the centre of the internal area suggests robbing or partial early excavation. This cairn forms part of the White Hill round cairn cemetery.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7368 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area, Peter Tavy (1998)
• EDV6663 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area
• EDV6664 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area
• EDV6665 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area
• EDV8141 - Condition survey of the Willsworthy Training Area

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