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Summary

A ring cairn lying on a gentle slope near the summit of Lakehead Hill. The cairn survives as a 6 metre diameter circle of upright slabs standing up to 0.4 metres high surrounding a slightly raised area. In the centre of the circle is a small 0.15 metre high mound.

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: SX67NW31
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442596
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/27
• Old SAM County Ref: 454C
• Old SAM Ref: 28687

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV262497.

Dcra/5. Devon Committee Rescue Archaeology Publication, 5, 1979, 54

Worth, R. H., 1936, 55th Report on Barrows, 49, pl.4,5, plan pl. Vi. (Article in Serial). SDV357808.

Brailsford, J. W., 1938, Bronze Age Stone Monuments of Dartmoor, 447 (Article in Serial). SDV304210.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1952, SX67NW31 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV262489.

(08/01/1952) SX 6435 7776 Cairn Circle. 11 stones, diameter 18 feet. This stone circle has been resurveyed 1.0m further west. All stones are now visible and well defined. Diameter 6.5m.
There was said to be another cairn circle approximately 200 yards (c. 183m) further west in good condition (citing Brailsford, 12/05/1936) but no trace of this was found.

Dartmoor National Park Authority + Forestry Commission + Dartmoor Preservation Association, 1976, Conservation of Ancient Monuments. The Report of a Working Party, No. 10. Site No. 10a (Report - non-specific). SDV248248.

Ring cairn (diameter 5.95m, northern end stone height 0.45m, width 1.0m, thickness 0.2m) marked on OS 6 inch map. Included in 1955 Spooner/Dixon report: (Lakehead Bellever Laughter), site No. 10. Site No. 10a in Bellever Plantation, Lakehead (with sketch map) in DNP field report.
Platform circle. Ring of kerbstones, 5.8m internal diameter, enclosing flat-topped cairn 0.25m high. Material from cairn lies outside circle on western side.

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

(07/09/1972) Diameter 6.0m, height is slight. A kerb circle containing the slightest traces of cairn on Lakehead Hill.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX67NW31 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV262481.

(16/11/1979) SX 64357776. On a northern crest of Lakehead Hill at 420m OD is a cairn circle measuring 6.1m in diameter (see ground photograph). It is planned by Worth, save for two additional stones within the circle and a turf-covered mound near the centre measuring 1.2m by 1.5m and 0.2m high. This seems to conceal stones and may be the remains of a cairn, may a band of displaced rubble to the W of the perimeter.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and at 1:2500 on AO 25".

Hemery, E., 1983, High Dartmoor, 484 (Monograph). SDV249702.

Additional bibliography.

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

Not visible on RAF 1951 aerial photograph.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 74/E16 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 144262 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(09/07/1997) Ring cairn forming part of a ritual complex on lakehead hill (mpp).

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

Lakehead Hill cairn '1' at SX64347777 of 6.0 metres diameter on the north side of the hill. The cairn has a retaining circle of 13 stones with another buried beneath the turf. Most of the cairn has been removed with some of the material dumped outside the south-west edge of the circle. The interior now rises only slightly above ground level, its smooth surface suggesting the damage may have occurred centuries ago. An earthfast stone within the circle may be part of an interior setting.

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

(22/11/1993) SX 64357776. A cairn circle, sited on the gentle northern slops of Lakehead Hill in an area of grassland and scrub. The circle is formed from eleven upright stones, plus two leaning stones. All are set on their edge and are on average 0.2m thick, up to 1m wide, and the tallest stands to 0.4m. Several others are apparently missing. On the south-west section five of the stones are spaced only 0.2m apart to form a kerb, others are spaced up to 0.6m apart. There is a turf mound located in the centre of the monument with a maximum diameter of 1.2 meters by 0.25m high. A stoney, linear mound on the south-west exterior is probably spoil from the cairn, removed during investigations by early barrow diggers. The ground in the vicinity is mostly level with only slight undulations on the south-east exterior. A gentle scarp 1.5m north of the circle forms the edge of a modern track.

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

Cairn shown on survey.

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

'Stone Circle' shown on modern mapping.

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

The monument, which falls into five areas of protection, includes five cairns, two stone alignments and three cists lying on a gentle slope near the summit of Lakehead Hill. This northern ring cairn survives as a 6 metre diameter circle of upright slabs standing up to 0.4 metres high surrounding a slightly raised area. In the centre of the circle is a small 0.15 metres high mound.

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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