Guidance for walkers: The monuments featured in this database are archaeological treasures and need to be protected and preserved - please do not disturb any sites. Please check access and firing times before visiting sites, not all sites listed are on open access land. Firing ranges and boundaries of open access areas are marked on the OL28 OS Dartmoor Explorer map. Please stick to the country code and consider giving support to the numerous agencies that help to keep Dartmoor a fabulous natural and historic environment!
About the database listings: In all listings clicking on the photo or the site name will open a page for the site with a larger photo and further details from the database. The database now has over 6680 records covering nearly all publicly listed sites on Dartmoor including around 4800 round houses. This level of detail is of interest to archaeologists but tends to swamp listings of sites more likely to be of interest for walkers. For this reason, the listings default to around 550 core sites only. These are the stone circles, stone rows and the ring cairns listed by Turner. The default search radius is 2 km. The controls below the map can be used to start a new search by entering a 6- or 8-digit reference (without the prefix "SX"). The search radius can be specified and you can add incremental Display layers of detail on top of the core sites. If using a more detailed layer you will need to decrease the search radius to avoid getting hundreds of search results.
These listings have incorporated, matched up and merged all of the records from all of the major archaeological listings including: Worth, Grinsell, Turner, Butler, Bill Radcliffe, Sandy Gerrard, Megalithic Portal, the National Monument Records and the Historic Environment Records. The author would like to thank Bill, Sandy, the lovely people both at Megalithic Portal (especially Anne Tate who did an amazing job to link listings) and at ACE Archaeology for collaborative work over the years to synchronise and correct listings across the various websites which now interlink. A culmination of years of work the final merger of cairn records took 3 months of cross referencing in 2017 the result being a snapshot of the records at that time. This data has in turn been refined since by field work and research. The round house data was supplied by Sandy Gerrard. Grid references are in order of accuracy: from Google Earth satellite, if visible and found, from a Garmin GPS reading, if visited by the author and from the literature otherwise. Individual site pages will state the source of the grid reference and provide satellite imagery. If a site listing lacks a photo it has not yet been visited by the author in which case the grid reference is from the literature.
Currently the database only includes sites which can be represented by a grid reference. Reaves are not included as they require GIS shape technology which is beyond the current capability of this system. To see the sources for the records, look at the tables on the resources menu. The database listings can also be viewed on a Google map and downloaded as GPS datasets for Garmin devices.
Corrections, or any feedback or suggestions are very welcome, email: info@dartmoorwalks.org.uk.
NOTE: Clicking on the icons for each monument in the map will give the name of the site. You can zoom in and out and drag the map around.
OS Map: SX 54383 84846
HER: MDV3251
Megalithic Portal: 44223
PMD: Doe Tor
Alternate name: Doe Tor E. Cist
ShortName: CT Doe Tor
Butler map: 32.21
Butler Vol 5: p.198 & Fig.141
DPD page: 10
Grinsell: LYD 12
Barrow Report: 24
Notes: Butler Doe Tor E - Vol. 2. Map 32.21 (diagram Vol. 5. p.198).
Nearby sites: SX 54383 84846
Distance: 1.99km
OS Map: SX 54922 86496
HER: MDV4653
Megalithic Portal: 10043
ShortName: CN:GreatLinks
Butler map: 43.13
Grinsell: BRI 8
Notes: "cairn with hollow in centre. Diam 17.5m, height 1.6m. ... (grinsell) 18.0m diameter, 1.4m high. Siting - hillspur. ... (gerrard) cairn mound measures 19m in diameter and stands up to 1.5m high. An irregular shaped hollow in the centre of the mound, measuring 4m long, 3m wide and up to 1.3m deep, suggests partial early excavation or robbing (mpp)."
Nearby sites: SX 54922 86496
Distance: 0.27km
Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks: Dartmoor Site: Guide to the Cairns on Great Nodden
OS Map: SX 5388 8741
HER: MDV4625
Megalithic Portal: 45796
PMD: Great Nodden
Alternate name: Great Nodden 17 Cist
ShortName: CT Great Nod17
Butler map: 43.7.17
Grinsell: BRI 7a
Barrow Report: 13 21
Notes: Butler: "recorded on the summit in 1891". This was excavated revealing a cist. No longer traceable. This cairn and cist was around 6m away from the Great Nodden cairn. The photograph accompanying this record is of the Great Nodden Cairn in the vicinity of where this cist used to exist. Butler Vol. 2. Map 43.7.17.
Nearby sites: SX 5388 8741
Distance: 1.41km
Page last updated 18/02/24