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Summary

On a gentle slope near the summit of Lakehead Hill is a ring cairn and cist. The cairn measures 6.9 metres in diameter and contains a central cist. The cist protrudes 0.4 metres above the surrounding ground surface and is covered by a capstone measuring 1.7 metres long, 1.28 metres wide and 0.15 metre thick.

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: SX67NW34
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442605
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/10
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/10/1
• Old SAM County Ref: 454A
• Old SAM County Ref: 454B
• Old SAM Ref: 28687.5

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Worth, R. H., 1935, 54th Report on Barrows, 79, Fig.10 (plan) & plate Vi fig.9. (Article in Serial). SDV346265.

RAF, 1951, 540/483, 3046-3047 (Aerial Photograph). SDV224110.

Royal Air Force, 1951, RAF/540/483, 3046-304 (Aerial Photograph). SDV224087.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1952/1979, SX67NW34 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV263657.

(08/01/1952) Cist and retaining circle at SX 64357746. The cist is in excellent condition being a lidded chamber, 2.0m x 1.0m, surrounded by a stone circle 5.6m in diameter.
(16/11/1979) SX 64357746. On the S slope of Lakehead Hill at 417m OD, is a cairn circle comprising ten stones between 0.2m and 0.7m high. They form a circle 5.7m in diameter with a centrally placed cist as planned by Worth, except that the fallen stone to the N is absent. Aligned WNW-ESE the cist measures 1.1m by 0.6m and is 0.4m deep. The interior of the circle is flat and turf-covered, (see ground photograph).
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and at 1:2500.

Dartmoor National Park Authority + Forestry Commission + Dartmoor Preservation Association, 1976, Conservation of Ancient Monuments. The Report of a Working Party (Report - non-specific). SDV248248.

Cist. Included in 1955 Spooner / Dixon report: (Lakehead Bellever Laughter) site No. 5. Site No. 13a. in Bellever Plantation, Lakehead (with sketch map) in DNP field report. Associated with ring cairn.
(1976) Northern side stone missing. Capstone.

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

(07/09/1972) Diameter 6.0m, height is slight. Slight cairn at Lakehead Hill with retaining circle enclosing cist placed ESE/WNW with capstone in place.

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 OS 1:10560 1954 OS map. The cist is not visible.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 64 72 fig 27, no. d10. (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

A ring setting 5.5m in diameter containing a central cist.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 144268 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(09/07/1997) Ring cairn forming part of a ritual complex on Lakehead Hill. Central cist covered by large capstone, 1.7m by 1.28m thick. Stands up to 0.4m above present land surface. Capstone is wobbly.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 50, 238, Map 27, Figure 27.13 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Lakehead Hill cairn '6' at SX64367747 of 5.6 metres diameter with a central cist. The cairn is surrounded by 10 slabs and much of the interior is taken up by the large cover slab of a cist which was excavated in 1896 when nothing was found. A stone row apparently led away to the south-east for 50-60 metres but this can no longer be traced.

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

(22/11/1993) SX 64366447. Sited on the gently sloping southern upper slopes of Lakehead Hill, on an open grassy area, is a stone cist with retaining circle. The cist constructed from three stone slabs of 0.2m thick, set on edge to form a rectangular chamber 1m by 0.7m. The fourth stone which would have formed the north side of the chamber is now missing. Placed on top of the cist is an irregularly shaped granite coverstone 0.25m thick and 1.8m long by 1.2m wide. The coverstone does not sit correctly on the sides and rocks when depressed. Surrounding the cist is a retaining circle of ten upright stones set edge up to 1m wide at base and 0.7m high. The average thickness is 0.3m. A further stone, on the south-west portion of the circle, probably in its original position is just breaking ground surface. The ground within and around the circle is mostly flat though there is a shallow erosion hollow on the north-west side of the cist. A stoney mound 1.2m north of the circle, 2.4m by 1m by 0.2m high, is likely to be all that remains of any associated cairn.
The site is currently managed, with vegetation around the stones trimmed to ground level.

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

Cairn 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.

Cairn and cist cover stone visible on aerial photograph.

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

'Cist' 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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