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Summary

Cairn recorded in 1974. It is 13.5 metres in diameter and up to 0.5 metres high. Its top has been badly disturbed and in centre is a stone filled hollow which may have contained a cist. There is no trace of a wedge-shaped cist recorded in 1891.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1007654: Ring cairn on Great Nodden summit

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX58NW5
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 440519
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX58NW/1
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX58NW/21
• Old SAM Ref: 22341
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX58NW5

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CAIRN (Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• CIST? (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Feature shown on 19th century map.

Brent, F., 1891, 13th Report of the Barrow Committee, 117-118 (Article in Serial). SDV215463.

A wedge shaped cist, the sides somewhat elliptical and built up with pieces of slaty stone, no slabs or large stones being used. It is about 3ft 6ins in length and 2ft at its broadest; the depth was not determined. Probably once covered with a cairn most of which has been removed to form a cairn about 20ft off. Not far from the cist a flint flake and a small borer of patinated flint were found lying close together.

Worth, R. H., 1902, 21st Report of the Barrow Committee, 112, 115, 137 (Article in Serial). SDV20971.

Great Nodden, Lyd; on the summit is a small grave, different in shape and mode of structure from the usual form. Opened and ransacked some years previously. Probably originally covered with a barrow or mound of small stones most of which have been removed to form a large cairn about 6m away. Of local metamorphosed rock; flint flake and small borer of white or patinated flint found nearby. Unusual, resembles graves found in Stillman Street, Plymouth.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'Tumulus' shown on early 20th century map.

Brailsford, J. W., 1938, Bronze Age Stone Monuments of Dartmoor, 450 (Article in Serial). SDV304210.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1974, SX58NW5 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV234588.

(18/09/1950) The cist is in the top of the tumulus (citing Worth, R. H., 07/12/1948).
(09/10/1974) SX 5388 8741 Cairn is 13.5m in diameter and up to 0.5m high. Its top has been badly disturbed and in centre is a stone filled hollow which may have contained a cist. There is no trace of a cist "20 feet from the cairn" as recorded by Brent (1891). Published survey 1:2500 revised.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 133-4 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(13/09/1975) Diameter 14.5m, height 0.6m. Siting - slope.

National Monument Record, 1979, SF1510, 266 (Aerial Photograph). SDV224088.

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

Recorded.

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

Not visible on aerials.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 130958 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(21/04/1993) Ring cairn. Earthwork survives as a circular bank of small stones, 2.3m wide and 0.4m high surrounding an internal area measuring 8m in diameter. A recent stone cairn measuring 4m in diameter and 0.9m high stands on the west side of the ring bank. A wedge shaped cist, with a seem-circular broad end and elliptical sides composed of local slate was present within this cairn during the latter part of the 19th century, but is no longer visible.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 219-220, 245, Map 43, Figure 43.2 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Great Nodden cairn '16' at SX53888741 of 14 metres diameter by 0.5 metres high occupies the summit of Great Nodden. It has been considerably damaged. Another cairn '17' once existed 6 metres away but when it was first described in 1891 only an unusual wedge shaped cist remained with walls constructed of small vertically placed slate slabs.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 2015-2017, 2015-2017 Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV361462.

Visible on aerial photograph.

Ordnance Survey, 2024, Mastermap 2024 (Cartographic). SDV365834.

'Tumulus' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2024, National Heritage List for England, 1007654 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365835.

This monument includes a ring cairn situated on the summit of Great Nodden. It survives as a circular bank of small stones, 2.3 metres wide and 0.4 metres high surrounding an internal area measuring 8 metres in diameter. A recent stone cairn measuring 4 metres in diameter and 0.9 metres high stands on the western side of the ring bank and is included within the scheduling. A wedge shaped cist, with a semi-circular broad end and elliptical sides composed of local slate, was present within this cairn during the latter part of the 19th century. This, however, is no longer visible.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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