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Cairns & Barrows

Round cairn near Birch Tor

Grid ref: SX 6866 8163

On walking routes: Two Moors Way

Main image: Old Boundary Marker north of Birch Tor, North Bovey parish - 15 metres from location - image by A Rosevear (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Historic England's scheduling record (list entry 1021341) describes a round cairn and a warren boundary stone near the summit of Birch Tor. The cairn is a flat-topped mound 18 metres across and up to 2.2 metres high.

A large hollow on the south side marks where a road contractor took stone in 1925. That work uncovered an internal stone kerb, and two slabs of it can still be seen in the undisturbed part of the mound.

The boundary stone stands 10 metres north-west of the cairn. It is 0.8 metres high and cut WB on its east face. It is one of at least 16 stones marking the edge of Headland Warren, which covers about 246 hectares and holds at least 37 pillow mounds, five vermin traps, six rectangular enclosures and the warren house. The warren was in use by 1754 and carried on until about 1920.

Sources: Historic England list entry 1021341, which cites the Devon County Sites and Monuments Register (SX68SE90, 1993) and fieldwork by S. Gerrard for the Monuments Protection Programme (2003).

  • Period: Bronze Age
  • Status: Scheduled monument (Historic England list entry 1021341)
  • Grid reference: SX 6866 8163 (approximate, from the listing's coordinates)
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Which Dartmoor tor is this?

Brat Tor. A granite tor with a prominent cross on its summit, visible from the A386 road.

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