See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

A Bronze age cist set within a slight amorphous disturbance lies on open moorland in dense heather cover. It measures a maximum 1.0 metre long by 0.70 metres internally and 0.7 metres deep. Two side slabs and a fallen end slab are extant. There is no trace of a cover stone. (Note: not shown accurately on the Ordnance Survey base mapping).

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1016146: Two cairns and a cist on the western slope of Great Gnats' Head

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66NW3
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 441573
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66NW/16
• Old SAM Ref: 10752(P)
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX66NW3

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Worth, R. H., 1901, 20th Report of the Barrow Committee, 33, plate XV (Article in Serial). SDV163208.

Kistvaen, remains of. This antiquity consists of two side stones and one end stone. The sides have fallen apart which is unusual, and the end stone which leant well over the kist, ultimately falling in consequence of the excavation, has been set in, an approximately vertical position. Dimensions not properly ascertainable. No results from excavation. In the approximate centre of the kistvaen a pit had at some time been sunk 432mm below the level of the floor, but nothing was found therein. There was no trace of a barrow round this kistvaen. The north west coverstone is missing. Measures 0.81m x 0.91m, 0.78m deep.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX66NW3 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV164751.

(07/06/1950) Worth's description is accurate; not correctly shown on the 6 inch map sheet. The north-west stone is missing.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 162 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1978, SX66NW3 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV164753.

(13/09/1978) The cist, on a westerly slope at 440m OD, is approximately 1.1m long, 1.0m wide and 0.6m deep, and as described and planned by Worth. Surveyed at 1:10000 on PSD

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

Not visible.

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

(24/06/1977) Cist placed east-south-east by west-north-west. North-west slab missing.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 140537 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(03/06/1995) Cist forming part of a dispersed group of funerary monuments. Survives as a 0.91m by 0.81m by 0.78m deep pit, orientated east-south-east by west-north-west, denoted on the north and south sides by edge set stones. The eastern end slab has been displaced now lies between the two side stones.
A very slight mound standing up to 0.2m high surrounds the cist but this was probably constructed when the cist was partly restored following an excavation in 1901. This work revealed a pit dug into the floor of the cist, but no artefacts were recovered.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 155, Map 50, Figure 50.4 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Great Gnats' Head cist at SX61206804 with two sides in place and the only remaining endstone has fallen forwards between them.

Thackray, C., 1994, The Upper Plym Valley: the management of an historic landscape, 308-9, 102.1250 (Report - non-specific). SDV143510.

English Heritage, 1997, Scheduled Monument Notification (Schedule Document). SDV164760.

Bronze Age cist 0.91m long by 0.81m wide and 0.78m deep. Denoted on the north and south sides by edge set stones. The eastern end stone has now been displaced and lies between the two side stones. A slight mound surrounds the cist but this was probably constructed when the cist was restored following excavation in 1901. This found a pit dug into the floor of the cist but no finds were made. Scheduled.

Probert, S. A. J. + Fletcher, M. J., 2002, Plym Valley survey (Report - Survey). SDV350782.

(28/02/2002) A Bronze age cist set within a slight amorphous disturbance lies on open moorland in dense heather cover.
It measures a maximum 1.0m long by 0.70m internally and 0.7m deep. Two side slabs and a fallen end slab are extant. There is no trace of a cover stone.

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

Visible on aerial photograph.

Ordnance Survey, 2022, Mastermap 2022 (Cartographic). SDV364674.

'Cist' shown 30 metres to the north-east on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1016146 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

This monument, which falls into two areas, includes two round cairns and a cist situated on a west facing slope of Great Gnats' Head overlooking the valley of the River Plym. The cist survives as a 0.91 metres long, 0.81 metres wide and 0.78 metres deep pit, denoted on the north and south sides by edge set stones. The eastern end slab has been displaced and now lies between the two side stones. A very slight mound standing up to 0.2 metres high surrounds the cist but this was probably constructed when the cist was partly restored following excavation in 1901. This work revealed a pit dug into the floor of the cist, but no artefacts were recovered.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8148 - The Upper Plym Valley: The Management of an Historic Landscape
• EDV8471 - Excavation of a cist, Great Gnat's Head

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.