Skip to content

← Browse Other Heritage Sites · Browse the directory

Other Heritage Sites

Pillow mound south-west of Legis Tor

Grid ref: SX 5690 6549

Historic England's scheduling record (list entry 1008713) describes a pillow mound on the south-west-facing slope of Legis Tor, overlooking the valley of Legis Lake. A pillow mound is a flat-topped, oblong mound built for rabbits to live in. This one is 13 metres long, 4.7 metres wide and 1.1 metres high, of soil and stone, with a ditch 2.6 metres wide and 0.8 metres deep on all four sides, from which the material was dug. It lies in the parish of Sheepstor, about 1.2 km north-west of Little Trowlesworthy Tor and 2.3 km south-east of Sheepstor.

It is part of the rabbit warren at Legis Tor, sometimes called New Warren, which may have run jointly with Trowlesworthy Warren until it became an outlier of Ditsworthy Warren. The name New Warren strongly suggests there was an older warren on the site. The warren is hard to date because there are no early documents, though it is generally accepted that the warren across the Plym at Trowlesworthy existed by 1292. Fences and fence posts are not part of the scheduling.

Sources: Historic England list entry 1008713, which cites Linehan, 'Deserted Sites and Rabbit Warrens on Dartmoor' (Medieval Archaeology 10, 1966), page 141, the Devon County Sites and Monuments Register (SX56NE239) and fieldwork for the Monuments Protection Programme by S. Gerrard.

  • Period: Medieval
  • Status: Scheduled monument (Historic England list entry 1008713)
  • Grid reference: SX 5690 6549 (approximate, from the listing's coordinates)

Historic England listed designation: Pillow mound 220m south west of Legis Tor forming part of Legistor Warren

Share

Contact us if you have information about this listing

Go deeper with Dartefacts

Dartefacts is a database of Dartmoor sites with far more close-up detail than we can show here, and it is the best place to go deeper. Dartefacts is free to use, and nobody has to pay to look things up. If you want more, a yearly subscription adds 10-figure grid references, map zoom down to 1:25,000 and lists to tick off the places you have visited, and it helps keep the site going. We would encourage you to subscribe.

Thoughts

Be the first to share a thought about Pillow mound south-west of Legis Tor.

Share a thought
Dartmoor quiz

What feature on Mel Tor is evidence of past stone cutting?

A fine millstone. The presence of a fine millstone on the south side is evidence of past stone cutting.

Worth a visit

Know another Dartmoor place, tor or landmark we should include? Suggest a listing, it is free.

Suggest a listing