Round Barrow near Yealm Steps

This Bronze Age round barrow sits on Dendles Waste, one of Dartmoor's exposed upland plateaus. The monument is a kerbed cairn, its stones carefully edged to define the mound, with a stone cist (burial chamber) at its heart. Like hundreds of similar barrows scattered across Dartmoor, it speaks to a period when the high moor was inhabited and actively used for burial and ritual.

Today the site survives as a subtle feature in the moorland, best appreciated in context with other Bronze Age monuments in the area. The landscape around Yealm Steps remains largely as it was in prehistory, rough moorland grass and bracken, and visiting the barrow involves the kind of cross-country moorland walking that connects you directly to the ancient people who built it.

Historic England listed designation: Round Barrow on Dendles Waste (Kerbed cairn with cist in Dendles Waste, 920m SSW of Yealm Steps)