Length of the Great Western Reave, Walkhampton Common

Historic England's scheduling record (list entry 1019589) describes a length of the Great Western Reave, a prehistoric settlement, three cairns, two field systems and a boundary stone on Walkhampton Common. The scheduling falls into two areas. The Great Western Reave is over 10 kilometres long, the longest known prehistoric land boundary on Dartmoor, and 2.58 kilometres of it survive here, in two parts: from SX 55217030 to SX 56157163 and from SX 56207173 to SX 56567251. It is 2.5 to 4 metres wide and 0.2 to 0.7 metres high, a rubble bank where its core shows. A second reave leads off at right angles at SX 55777088, 500 metres long, 1.5 metres wide and 0.5 metres high. It lies in the parish of Walkhampton, about 0.7 km south-west of Leeden Tor and 2.7 km south-east of Sampford Spiney.

The settlement lies beside the reave at SX 56007126, with at least six hut circles and two enclosures. The huts are banks round circular or oval spaces of 2.54 to 7.5 square metres, averaging 5.4, with walls 0.3 to 0.5 metres high. One has a visible doorway, all six are butted to the reave, and two are in turn butted by enclosure walling, so the reave came first, then the huts, then the enclosures.

Near the south-west end of the reave are two field systems and three cairns. The first, centred on SX 55377057, has two substantial rubble banks up to 8 metres wide and 1.4 metres high, more massive than the field boundaries of Bronze Age settlements, so probably Neolithic or Early Bronze Age. Their position midway between two stone rows, and a later burial cairn added on top of one boundary, point to an early origin. That cairn is 8 metres across and 1.4 metres high, with a hollow in the middle, and a second cairn 9.8 metres by 5 metres and up to 0.7 metres high has also been investigated. The second field system, centred on SX 55227033, has two main boundaries, the biggest 64 metres long, up to 5 metres wide and 0.3 metres high, and may also be older than the reave, with a cairn 5.8 metres across nearby. Two historic features are included: a boundary stone of unknown date and purpose in the middle of the settlement, 1.3 metres high and up to 0.84 metres wide, tapering to a point, and a short length of leat that cuts through the reave at SX 56347212.

Sources: Historic England list entry 1019589, which cites Butler, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities (1994), page 85, the Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 sheet SX 57 SE (1982), the Devon County Sites and Monuments Register (SX57SE279, 1986) and fieldwork for the Monuments Protection Programme by S. Gerrard (2000). Sandy Gerrard has dated his photograph to 29 April 2013 in a comment on the Historic England page; I have not used it.

• Period: Bronze Age
• Status: Scheduled monument (Historic England list entry 1019589)
• Grid reference: SX 5581 7117 (approximate, from the listing's coordinates)