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Summary

A much ruined kerb cairn with a central cist on the western slope of Legis Lake, 254m ESE of the stone row terminal cairn. The cist is disturbed though all components remain present, with side and end slabs all in situ. The overall diameter of the kerb could have been 4.9m. Surveyed in April 2022.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1012270: Cairn with cist west of Legis Lake

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE62
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 438677
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/35
• Old SAM County Ref: 383
• Old SAM Ref: 10593

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Worth, R. H., 1910, 29th Report of the Barrow Committee, 62 (Article in Serial). SDV215873.

A cist, with its coverstone pushed to one side, within the remains a 14 ft diameter cairn circle. There is also the "slightest trace" of a barrow

Worth, R. H., 1912, 31st Report of the Barrow Committee, 83 (Article in Serial). SDV233835.

Excavations in 1911 by H. H. Breton revealed no further information.

Breton, H. H., 1914, Beautiful Dartmoor and its Interesting Antiquities, 13, 58 (Monograph). SDV256843.

Breton, H. H., 1932, The Forest of Dartmoor, 2, Plymouth, 25 (Monograph). SDV231147.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1979, SX56NE62, Plans (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV215875.

(31/05/1950) Legis Lake cairn. Margined with a circle of upright stones. Some stones from the circle are missing. The cairn measures 4.9 metres diameter by 0.3 metres high and the cist measures 0.9 metres by 0.5 metres by 0.6 metres deep. A perfect cist with two sidestones and two endstones in position. The coverstone overhangs the cist at its southern end corner. The cist is contained in a barrow, and there are the remains of a retaining circle surrounding the barrow. Nine stones remain and all are fallen.
(04/04/1979) A cairn approximately 5.0m in diameter with a dozen earthfast stones none more than 0.3m high forming a crude circle around the perimeter. Near the centre is a cist oriented north-west to southeast. It is 1.3m long and 0.5m wide and 0.5m deep with a displaced coverstone measuring 1.4m by 1.3m and 0.3m thick.
The cairn has been much ruined and spread almost to ground level. Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD and 1:100.

Pettit, P., 1974, Prehistoric Dartmoor, 89, Plate (Monograph). SDV231149.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 167, Sheepstor 20 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Visited on 28th July 1972. Cairn with retaining circle enclosing cist placed south-east to north-west with a capstone to south-west. Diameter 4.5 metres, height 0.2 metres.

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

Not visible on 1946 RAF verticals.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 47, 75, E32 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Platform circle. Ring of rough boulders forms kerb, internal diameter 4.1 metres, enclosing flat-topped cairn 0.3 metres high with central cist.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 144-5, Map 49, Figures 49.21 & 49.21.1 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Ringmoor Down cairn '2' at SX56596577 of 5.5 metres diameter by 0.3 metres high with a cist. Lukis planned this monument in 1879. Little remains of the cairn mound but the cist, its west end constructed of two stones, survives intact alongside the cover slab. An outer ring of variously sized blocks is present but all appear to be flat, and perhaps they were never placed on end.

Probert, S., 2005, Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV363484.

(09/02/2005) SX 56596576. This feature remains in a stable condition and as described by the Ordnance Survey (1979).

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

Visible on aerial photograph.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, UPRM-10 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

(20/05/2019) Condition assessed as ?very good by volunteer recorders; no issues noted, although stability and vulnerability of site questioned.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs (Photograph). SDV363073.

Feature photographed in May 2019.

Ordnance Survey, 2021, MasterMap 2021 (Cartographic). SDV364015.

'Cairn Circle & Cist' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1012270 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

This cairn with a cist lies 150 metres west of Legis Lake. It consists of a mound 0.4 metres in height with a retaining kerb 5 metres in diameter and a central cist. The kerb contains eleven stones of which some of the larger ones have fallen. The cist has all four slabs in place and is 1.0 metres in length by 0.5 metres in width and 0.4 metres in depth. The cover slab is displaced and overhangs the cist, it is 1.40 metres in length by 1.2 metres in width.

Newman, P., 2022, Ringmoor Down Premier Archaeological Landscape Dartmoor National Park, Devon. A new survey, Table 1 (Report - Survey). SDV365490.

A much ruined kerb cairn with a central cist on the western slope of Legis Lake. SX 56595 65755. A much ruined kerb cairn with a central cist on the western slope of Legis Lake, 254m ESE of the stone row terminal cairn. The cist is disturbed though all components remain present, with side and end slabs all in situ. The cist is oriented NW to SE and the chamber measures 1m by 0.51m and 0.55m deep. The large capstone has been removed and deposited to one side though still partly covers the chamber. It measures 1.52m by 1.14m. Very little of the cairn material has survived but several boulders on the west, south and east sides are likely components of a kerb, albeit some may be displaced. The overall diameter of the kerb could have been 4.9m. Surveyed at 1:100 using GPS, April 2022.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7443 - Condition survey of archaeological sites in Ringmoor Training Area
• EDV7569 - Condition survey of Ringmoor Down training area
• EDV8227 - Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV8917 - Survey of the archaeological features on Ringmoor Down

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