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Summary

Cairn circle and cist at SX61536279. The circle, consists of eight flat slabs, set on edge and has an internal diameter of approximately 3.4m. Some of the stones from the western quadrant of the circle are missing, a single earthfast stone is all that survives. The rectangular cist lies roughly centrally within the circle and is oriented E to W. It measures 1.2m long by 0.6m and 0.5m deep with slabs still in place both sides. All traces of the cairn material which would have originally formed a small mound over the cist have been removed. Investigated and surveyed at 1:200 scale as part of the RCHME Hawns & Dendles project in 1997. Collections number 1088517.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1002525: Round Barrow on Dendles Waste (Kerbed cairn with cist in Dendles Waste, 920m SSW of Yealm Steps)

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66SW35
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442267
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66SW/33
• Old SAM County Ref: 441

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Feature shown as 'Hut Circle' on 19th century map.

Worth, R. H., 1924 - 1925, An Urn From a Barrow on Westerland Beacon, 107-108 (Article in Serial). SDV343467.

Stone circle encloses a cist. Nine stones, and two are missing. Endstone and coverstone missing from kist.

Davidson, C. + Seabrook, R., 1973, Stone Rings on south-east Dartmoor, 28, Figure 13 (Article in Serial). SDV345864.

In Dendles Waste are the remains of a cist, surrounded by an incomplete stone circle. One end stone and the cover-stone of the cist are missing. Internal measurements are 2 feet 2 inches wide and probably 3 feet 6 inches in length. There are nine stones remaining in the circle which has an internal diameter of just over 11 feet. The whole character is that of a retaining circle around a barrow, but the mound has completely disappeared.
Site surveyed and measured plan published. Lies in middle of recent plantation, measurement difficult.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX66SW35 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV157272.

(11/08/1977) SX 61536280 This cairn circle, diameter 4.2m, consists of ten large stones, (one possibly displaced) maximum height 1.1m, and lies on the crest of a north-south ridge at 310m above OD. It surrounds a cist, approximately 1.1m long by 0.5m wide internally and 0.7m deep, which has lost its west end stone and coverstone. There is now no trace of cairn material.
1:10 000 Survey revised on MSD.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 137 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

In clearing on Forestry Commission plantation, retaining circle of large upright slabs. No mounds remains.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 42, 72, d19 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Ring setting of 8 stones, 3.3 metres internal diameter, around a central cist. Single taller stone in ring forms visual focal point.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 194, 213, Figure 52.15, Map 52 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Dendles Waste S. cairn at SX61536279 of 4.0 metres diameter with a cist. Cairn ring and cist on the crest of the spur. Small stone ring surrounding a cisted cairn. Only the eastern half of the ring of bulky slabs remains with a tall pillar like stone over a metre high standing at the easternmost point. The mound itself has gone and only a single side stone of the cist remains in place alongside the empty pit.
In 1924 Worth recorded a second circle 155 metres to the north of 10.7 metres diameter with six stones standing and one displaced. This area is encumbered with tree roots and fallen branches and is too disturbed for any recognisable structure to have survived.

Cornwood Parishoners, 1997, Hawns and Dendles - The 'In Between', 14 (Monograph). SDV360414.

Bronze Age cairn circle with a cist.

Fletcher, M. + Newman, P. + Probert, S., 1998, Hawns and Dendles: An Archaeological Survey by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 4-5, Figure 2 (Report - Survey). SDV346246.

(24/02/1998) Cairn circle and cist at SX61536279. The circle, consists of eight flat slabs, set on edge and has an internal diameter of approximately 3.4 metres. Some of the stones from the western quadrant of the circle are missing, a single earthfast stone is all that survives. The rectangular cist lies roughly centrally within the circle and is oriented east to west. It measures 1.2 metres long by 0.6 metres and 0.5 metres deep with slabs still in place both sides. All traces of the cairn material which would have originally formed a small mound over the cist have been removed. Investigated and surveyed at 1:200 scale as in 1997.
This is the earliest archaeological feature visible within the newtake and lies on the summit of the ridge immediately east of the modern track. It has previously been surveyed by Worth, Davidson and Butler. Similar monuments on Dartmoor have been attributed to the later neolithic or early Bronze Age periods dating from around 2500 to 2000 BC.

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

Rectangular feature and 'Cairn Circle' shown as a ring of six dots on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1002525 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

This monument includes a kerbed cairn with a cist situated on a ridge forming the watershed between the River Yealm and Broadall Lake. It survives as a partial kerb of nine large orthostats standing up to 1.1 metres high forming an incomplete ring measuring approximately 4 metres in diameter internally which surround a centrally placed rectangular cist which measures 1.2 metres long, 0.6 metres wide and 0.5 metres deep. The coverstone is missing and all traces of the cairn material which would have originally formed a small mound over the cist have been removed. The kerb is incomplete on the western side.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4965 - Hawns and Dendles, Cornwood: An Archaeological survey by the Royal Commission

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