Pillow mound near Merrivale Bridge

This pillow mound forms part of Merrivale Warren, a medieval landscape where rabbits were kept and hunted for food and fur. The mound itself is a man-made earthwork, created as a burrow system and warren lodge site. Pillow mounds are distinctive low, elongated humps found across upland England, built to provide controlled habitat for rabbits in an era when they were a valuable managed resource.

Today the site sits quietly in the moorland north east of Merrivale Bridge, part of a pattern of medieval warren administration visible across Dartmoor. For walkers exploring the moor, it serves as a tangible reminder of how communities once shaped the landscape for practical needs, and of how Dartmoor's open ground conceals layers of human use and management.

Historic England listed designation: Pillow mound 530m north east of Merrivale Bridge, forming part of Merrivale Warren