MSO6251 - Robin How Cairn on Dunkery Hill (Monument)

Cairn of beacon known as "Robin How" on the Luccombe-Wootton Courtney parish boundary. On it there are two conical erections one to the north and one to the south, each about 3 feet high. Between them the mound has a flat top composed of smaller stones than elsewhere. The diameter of exposed stones is about 62 feet and the height above the moor (excluding the surmounting stone heaps) is 6 foot. [1] Scheduled under Burial Mounds. [2,3] This is a disturbed cairn 1.6 metres high and listed by Grinsell as Luccombe No. 3. As Grinsell suggests, a quarry pit 0.7 metres deep against the east side of the cairn probably provided its material. [4] Resurveyed at 1:2500. [5] Visited by Grinsell Whitsun 1958. Robin How and Joaney How (MSO7397) were shown as Luckham Barrows on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1809, and as Luccombe Barrows on the map by W. C. Cox 1829 and in Savage. The earliest appearance of Robin and Joaney How on the maps appears to be on the Ordnance Survey six inch map of 1889. [6] The large cairn known as Robin How lies on Dunkery Hill at SS 90761 42724. It comprises a large, circular mound of stone, enclosed by a heather and turf covered bank. The cairn measures 21.5 metres in diameter and stands 2 metres high. The eastern side is flanked by a large pit, 19 metresnorth to south, 8 metres East to West and 0.8 metres deep, probably the source of material for the cairn. The stone mound is flat topped, and has probably been re-worked recently, as there is no sign of the two conical erections mentioned by [3]. The evidence for this being the site of a beacon comes from the Ordnance Survey 25 inch 1st Edition map [13] there is no other evidence that this was the case. The cairn was surveyed using differential GPS as part of the RCHME East Exmoor Project. [7] Surveyed at 1:500 scale with EDM, 24 February 2000. [8] Round cairn known as Robin How. Part of round cairn cemetery on Dunkery Hill. Together with Joaney How barrow they may enshrine a tradition of Little John and Robin Hood. [9] The cairn known as Robin How has been transcribed as earthworks from aerial photographs as part of the Exmoor National Mapping Programme survey. The cairn appears to be circa 25 metres in diameter and centred on circa SS 9076 4272. It is one of eight cairns recorded as part of the survey in this area, although more are present but not visible on the aerial photographs available. [10,11] Although marked as "Beacon" on the 25 inch Ordnance Survey map, no evidence of it being used as such. [12] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave the site a survival score of 3. [14] The site was surveyed in April 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. It was given a survival score of 3. [15] The site is depicted and labelled "Robin How Cairn" on the 2020 MasterMap data. [16]