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Summary

A heather-covered cairn in open moorland on the moderately sloping south west flank of Bellever Tor. It is slightly irregular and measures 5.7m north-east to south-west by 4.9m with a maximum height of 0.8m. The top is obscured by heather, the sides slope sharply and two stones of a possible retaining kerb are visible on the northern margin.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1018508: A cairn and cist 380m west and a cairn and standing stone 370m south west of Bellever Tor, forming an outlying part of a cairn cemetery

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67NW44
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442635
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/37
• Old SAM Ref: 28684.2

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX67NW44 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV262937.

(01/09/1950) Cairn, it does not appear to have been excavated, although there is a slight disturbance at the top centre where large granite stones are bared. At the north west extreme are two stones, the positions of which indicate this being part of the retaining circle, no others remain. Height 0.8m, diameter 5.0m.

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

Cairn. Site No. 1b in Bellever Plantation, Bellever Tor (with sketch map) in DNP field report.
(1976) Covered in whortleberries. On the north-western side of the cairn are two stones, the only remains of a retaining circle. Not investigated or planted over.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 150, Lydford 59a (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX67NW44 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV262929.

(02/11/1979) SX 64147627. On the south-west slope of Bellever Tor at 389m. O.D. is a furze-covered mound, probably a cairn. It measures 5.9m. NE-SW by 4.9m. transversely and is 0.85m. high with two contiguous stones on its northern perimeter. There is no sign of excavation.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on M.S.D. and 1:2500.

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

Not visible on NMR 1977 aerial photographs.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 54 79/Ff18. (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Encircled cairn. Ring of orthostats 7m diameter, around cairn 5m diameter and 0.8m high. Only two stones left in circle.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 144148 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(08/07/1997) Cairn 360m south-west of Bellever Tor forming an outlying part of a cairn cemetery. Measures 6m by 5m by 0.7m high. Oriented WNW-ESE and covered in dense bilberry and some heather. Possible standing stone 6.6m to ESE.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 52-3, 239, Map 27, Figure 27.14 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Bellever Tor cairn '2' at SX64137628 of 6.0 metres diameter by 0.8 metres high. This is possibly not an artificial mound at all but merely some heather covered rocks which abound on the hillside here. Its artificial nature is suggested by the two stones at its base which could be part of a retaining circle and an unnatural looking slab 6 metres uphill, orientated slightly off centre.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1993-1998, Dartmoor Royal Forest Project, S. A. J. Probert (Report - Survey). SDV346608.

(04/11/1993) SX 64157628. A heather-covered cairn in open moorland on the moderately sloping south west flank of Bellever Tor. It is slightly irregular and measures 5.7m north-east to south-west by 4.9m with a maximum height of 0.8m. The top is obscured by heather, the sides slope sharply and two stones of a possible retaining kerb are visible on the northern margin.

ADAS RECORD SHEET, 1995, Cairns on Bellever Tor (Site Visit). SDV262732.

Visited on 5th February 1995. Recorded as stable with feature obscured by shrubbery.

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

Cairn shown on survey.

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

'Cairn' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1018508 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

The monument, which falls into two areas of protection, includes two cairns, one containing a cist, and a standing stone lying on a gentle west facing slope; prior to afforestation they would have overlooked the valley of the Cherry Brook. The southern cairn survives as a 6 metres long by 5 metres wide mound standing up to 0.7 metres high. Two edge slabs on the northern side of the mound may represent the remnants of a kerb, which survives elsewhere as a buried feature.

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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