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Summary

A ring cairn lying on a gentle slope near the summit of Lakehead Hill. The cairn is defined by a circle of edge set stones which measure 7.8 metres in diameter and stand up to 0.9 metres high.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1018510: Five cairns, two stone alignments and three cists, forming part of a ritual complex on Lakehead Hill

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67NW33
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442602
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/92
• Old SAM Ref: 28687(P)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Worth, R. H., 1935, 54th Report on Barrows, 79-80 (Article in Serial). SDV346265.

A 22 ft diameter cairn circle consisting of ten stones. There are slight traces of its barrow or cairn, but no visible traces of a cist.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1952/1979, SX67NW33 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV266789.

(08/01/1952) Stone circle at SX 64637748; well defined and located as shown. Depicted as being approximately 5.8m in diameter and is in close proximity to a cist and retaining circle around 14m to the south-east. Appears to be the retaining circle of a cairn, rather than a stone circle.
(16/11/1979) On the S slope of Lakehead Hill at 417m OD is the remains of a cairn circle measuring 9.0m in diameter, with ten spaced stones up to 0.6m high (see ground photograph). Three displaced stones lie from 4.0m to 7.0m beyond the circle. The interior is level, a few stones just penetrating the turf, (see plan). There is no sign of a cist.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and at 1:2500 and 1:100 for AO.

Dartmoor National Park Authority + Forestry Commission + Dartmoor Preservation Association, 1976, Conservation of Ancient Monuments. The Report of a Working Party, No. 5. Site No. 13a (Report - non-specific). SDV248248.

Ring cairn. Included in 1955 Spooner/Dixon report: Lakehead Bellever Laughter) site No. 5. Site No. 13a. In Bellever Plantation, Lakehead (with sketch map) in DNP report.
(1976) ten stones standing, one fallen. Forming an ellipse circle.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 149 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(07/09/1972) Retaining circle of cairn at Lakehead Hill. Diameter 6.7m by 7.3m, height only slight.

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

Looks like a cairn circle on RAF 1951 aerial photograph and described as such on 1:10560 1954 OS map.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 64, 81, fig 27, G24 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Turner (1990) refers to site as a stone circle, 6.5m - 6.1m diameter.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 144267 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(09/7/1997) Ring cairn forming part of a ritual complex on Lakehead Hill. Diameter 6.9m, height 0.78m. Kerb.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 48-51, 238 Map 27, Fig 27.13 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Lakehead Hill cairn 5 at SX64347750 of 6.8 metres diameter and consisting of 10 erect slabs with spaces for perhaps 4 others surrounding an almost flat interior. There is no sign of a central cist.

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

(22/11/1993) SX 64357748. Sited on the gently sloping southern upper slopes of Lakehead Hill on an open grassy area, is an incomplete cairn circle of ten stones with an internal diameter of 6.8m. The granite stones, of which several are now missing, are set on edge and measure between 0.6 and 1.4m wide at the base and up to 0.3m thick, with the tallest stone standing to 0.9m. The ground in and around the circle is gently undulating, with several small stones protruding through the turf indicating possible remains of a removed cairn and a certain amount of modern erosion. Three larger stones, which may be displaced from the monument lie between 4m and 11m north of the circle. There is no evidence of there having been a cist but a shallow depression of 1m diameter at the centre of the circle could indicate possible disturbance of a burial. 15m south-west of this monument lies a similar circle but with cist (SX 67 NW 34).

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

Circle of stones shown on survey.

Dartmoor National Park Authority, 2014, Bellever: An Archaeological Landscape (Leaflet). SDV357070.

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

Visible on aerial photograph.

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

'Cairn Circle' shown on modern mapping

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1018510 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

Cairn within Scheduled area.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7388 - Archaeological condition survey in Bellever Woods
• EDV7406 - Archaeological condition survey in Bellever Woods
• EDV7431 - Woodland Survey (1989-90) at Bellever, Soussons and other woodland parcels
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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