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Summary

Remains of a cairn and cist. The cairn measures circa 4.2 metres by 3.9 metres and is up to 0.45 metres high. Stones protrude through the turf and there is an irregular upcast mound on the top; no kerb can be seen. The incomplete cist is oriented north-west to south-east. It measures about 0.85 metres long by 0.4 metres to 0.55 metres wide and 0.25 metres deep internally. The upright west side slab is 0.9 metres by 0.2 metres by 0.25 metres and the surviving end slab is 0.4 metres by 0.2 metres by 0.25 metres. The east side is formed by a flat-sided boulder which is circa 1.1 metres long, at least 0.6 metres thick and 0.25 metres high. The south-east side is open. The coverstone is 1.7 metres by 0.7 metres by 0.4 metres and leans against the west side of the cist. This site is on the local list of Nationally Important Dartmoor sites.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Pair of prehistoric cairns with cists north of Royal Hill, south of the Blackbrook River

Other References/Statuses

• Dartmoor Non-designated Heritage Asset (Evidential): NI Site
• National Monuments Record: SX67SW11
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443262
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SW/14

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Duchy of Cornwall, 1818, Map of Freehold and Early Enclosures of Dartmoor (Cartographic). SDV237263.

Worth, R. H., 1902, 21st Report of the Barrow Committee, 116 (Article in Serial). SDV20971.

Worth, R. H., 1912, 31st Report of the Barrow Committee, 83-4 (Article in Serial). SDV233835.

Cist has been rifled. Coverstone thrown to one side. Other details: Plate 1.

Worth, R. H., 1928, 47th Report of the Barrow Committee, 77-8 (Article in Serial). SDV345669.

Other details: Plate 6 Figure 3.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1951/1980, SX67SW11 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV237260.

(05/09/1951) Cist with no end stone. Measures 1.1 metres by 0.61 metres 0.38 metres deep.
(04/02/1980) At SX 61247355, on a slight north-west slope at 372m. OD. is the remains of a possible cist. Only two boulders are visible (the coverstone and the eastern side stone) and the remainder, one side stone and one end stone (implied by touch). The open-ended box, 1.0m. by 0.5m. and 0.3m. deep lies within an irregular shaped peaty mound 4.5m. by 7.8m. and 0.5m. high, possibly a peated up cairn.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and at 1:2500 for AO records. (See SX 67 SW 19).

Worth, R. H., 1967, Worth's Dartmoor, 173, 458 (Monograph). SDV337618.

Worth assigns Blackey Tor to the large outcrop N of the cairn. On a Duchy map (1818) it is called Courton Tor and Blacka Tor is applied to the present Royal Hill, bereft of any major outcrop.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 152 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

Slight cairn enclosing cist placed south-east to north-west. Capstone to the north-west. Diameter of the cairn is 4.5 meters, height is 0.3 meters. This is the more westerly of the two cists on Blakey Tor. (19/7/1974)

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

Not visible on Royal Air Force aerial photographs.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit, M. J. Fletcher (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(01/02/1989) At SX 61247354. The remains of this cairn and cist are situated on a slight north-west slope of a rounded high point at 372 metres OD; there are extensive views on all but the south side. It lies amidst a scattered spread of large natural earthfast boulders on a rather uneven peat layer covered by close cropped moorland pasture. The cairn measures circa 4.2 metres by 3.9 metres and is up to 0.45 metres high. Stones protrude through the turf and there is an irregular upcast mound on the top; no kerb can be seen. The incomplete cist is oriented north-west to south-east. It measures about 0.85 metres long by 0.4 metres to 0.55 metres wide and 0.25 metres deep internally. The upright west side slab is 0.9 metres by 0.2 metres by 0.25 metres and the surviving end slab is 0.4 metres by 0.2 metres by 0.25 metres. The east side is formed by a flat-sided boulder which is circa 1.1 metres long, at least 0.6 metres thick and 0.25 metres high. The south-east side is open. The coverstone is 1.7 metres by 0.7 metres by 0.4 metres and leans against the west side of the cist.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, 230-232, Map 65, Figure 65.5 (Monograph). SDV337765.

Blakey Tor W. cairn at SX61227355 of 4.0 metres diameter by 0.3 metres high with a cist. Remains of a mound around the cist. The capstone, a bulky slab, is propped to one side and one of the end stones has gone, probably buried.

Gerrard, S., 2004, List of Sites Remaining to be Considered for Designation on Dartmoor (Un-published). SDV345444.

This site was considered for designation as a Scheduled Ancient Monument during the Monument Protection Programme. The programme ended before the entire list of sites was successfully scheduled so this is included on a local list of Nationally Important Sites.

Ordnance Survey, 2010, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV344030.

'Cist' shown on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8628 - Tor Royal Farm Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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