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Summary

A possible prehistoric cairn situated on flat-covered ground 15 metres north of Watern Tor. This irregular feature measures 5.0 metres north to south by 5.5 metres and stands a maximum of 0.65 metres high. A large slab, probably a natural outcrop, protrudes through the turf covering of the mound on the north eastern side and it would seem that smaller stones have accumulated behind it to form a cairn. There is no evidence to support the presence of a cist and the monument does not conform to the typical description of a prehistoric cairn.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1017482: Round cairn on Watern Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68NW10
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443720
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68NW/24
• Old SAM Ref: 28661

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1951/1979, SX68NW10 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV239091.

(02/06/1951) "A well-defined cairn has been located and surveyed. Diameter approximately 7.0m, covered with turf and heather" (OS Small Scales Reviser).
(12/09/1951) (SX 62908682) Cairn (NR). A small heather covered cairn of granite stones. There is no depression in the centre to suggest that the cairn has been opened. There is a large flat slab of granite partly buried on north-east side of cairn. It might be a displaced coverstone for a cist.
(02/10/1979) Slightly west of the line of outcropping rock on Watern Tor at 535.0m OD is a probable cairn. It measures 4.8m by 5.3m in diameter and is 0.6m high. A large slab protrudes from the north-east side and this would appear to be living rock around which the cairn was built.
Revised at 1:10 000 on MSD. See ground photograph.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 144 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(30/07/1976) Shown on the Ordnance Survey maps as cairn, but seems to be a natural outcrop.

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

Not visible on RAF 1947 aerial photograph.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 211, 244, Map 41, Site '4' (Monograph). SDV219155.

Watern Tor cairn at SX62878688 of 4.5 metres diameter by 0.4 metres high. Small heather covered cairn with a flat slab lying on its surface at the foot of the rocks north-west of Watern Tor and close to Thirlstone rock.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1993-1998, Dartmoor Royal Forest Project (Report - Survey). SDV346608.

(02/09/1993) SX 62908682. A possible prehistoric cairn situated on flat-covered ground 15m north of Watern Tor. This irregular feature measures 5.0m north to south by 5.5m and stands a maximum of 0.65m high. A large slab, probably a natural outcrop, protrudes through the turf covering of the mound on the north eastern side and it would seem that smaller stones have accumulated behind it to form a cairn. There is no evidence to support the presence of a cist and the monument does not conform to the typical description of a prehistoric cairn.

Probert, S. A. J. + Newman, P., 2003-2004, Measured survey North Dartmoor Military Range Okehampton Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV350801.

(21/10/2003) This feature remains as described in 1993.

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

Cairn shown on survey,

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

'Cairn' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2023, National Heritage List for England, 1017482 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365228.

The monument includes a round cairn situated on high ground between the Thirlstone and Watern Tor. The cairn survives as a flat topped, oval shaped mound measuring 5.5 metres long by 5 metres wide and 0.7 metres high. A large granite slab denotes the north eastern edge of the mound.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8679 - Okehampton Range: Management Survey
• EDV8291 - Okehampton Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV8695 - Survey of Okehampton North Dartmoor Military Range

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