MSO7902 - Bronze Age burial cairn on Porlock Allotment (Monument)

Summary

A Bronze Age burial cairn, visible as a circular heap of stones of 6.7 metres in diameter and 1 metre high. It has been considerably robbed.

Please read the Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record .

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

At SS 8405 4470 is a cairn with a hollow centre (Grinsells Porlock No 2), 9 paces across by 1.5 feet high. [1] This is a heather covered cairn 0.7 metres high, at SS 8401 4468. [10,11] Surveyed at 1:2500. [2] Ruined hut circle or cairn 500 metres west of Colley Water stone circle. Made of medium sized stones, it is 9 paces in diameter and 1 metre high. Hollowed centre and possible entrance on the northwest downslope side suggesting a hut circle. Two standing stones nearby (MSO7911). [3] A circular heap of stone was recorded 500m to the west of the Porlock stone circle. The feature is 9 metres in diameter and 1 metre high with an irregular profile. It is not certain whether or not this is a partially robbed cairn or a very ruinous hut circle. [4] SS 8405 4470. "Cairn" written on Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 map. [5] More likely to be a cairn. [6] Scheduled on 27 March 1996 together with stone row (MSO7911). [7] Centred at SS 84008 44694 is a robbed cairn. It lies on a low spur set down within a tributary valley of Weir Water. It comprises a circular, heather covered, stony mound 6.7 metres in diameter, disturbed by a robbing hollow driven in from the north. Surveyed with GPS, 12 August 1996. [8,9] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave the site a survival score of 8. [12] This was surveyed during a measured field survey undertaken as part of the Dig Porlock project, run by the Exmoor Moorland Landscape Partnership Scheme. [13] The site was surveyed in May 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. It was given a survival score of 4. [14] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [15]

Sources/Archives (15)

  • <1> Article in serial: Grinsell, L.V.. 1969. Somerset Barrows. Part I: West and South. Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society. 113. P. 38.
  • <2> Unpublished document: PITCHER, GHP. Field Investigators Comments. Ordnance Survey visit, 8 July 1965.
  • <3> Unpublished document: Somerset County Council. Various. Somerset HER parish files - Exmoor records. PRN 33933.
  • <4> Article in serial: Burrow, I., Minnitt, S. + Murless, B.. 1981. Somerset Archaeology 1980. Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society. 125. P. 65.
  • <5> Map: Ordnance Survey. 1978. 1:10,000 Map, 1978. 1:10,000. SS84SW.
  • <6> Verbal communication: Various. 1900-. Somerset County Council / South West Heritage Trust staff comments. E Dennison, Somerset County Council, 21 April 1987.
  • <7> Unpublished document: English Heritage. 26.4.1996. English Heritage to Somerset County Council.
  • <8> Map: RCHME. 1989. 1:1000.
  • <9> Unpublished document: Wilson-North, R.. Field Investigators Comments. RCHME Field Investigation, 12 August 1996.
  • <10> Photograph: Pitcher, S.. 1965. HEATHER COVERED CAIRN AT PORLOCK FROM SOUTH WEST. OS65/F173/1. B/W. MICROFILM.
  • <11> Photograph: Pitcher, S.. 1965. HEATHER COVERED CAIRN AT PORLOCK FROM SOUTH WEST. OS65/F173/2. B/W. MICROFILM.
  • <12> Report: Bray, L.S.. 2010. Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment 2009, Exmoor National Park.
  • <13> Report: Riley, H.. 2013. Dig Porlock: Earthwork surveys on Porlock Allotment. 3, 4, 5, 13.
  • <14> Report: Gent, T. and Manning, P.. 2015. Exmoor National Park Scheduled Monument Condition Survey 2015. Archaedia.
  • <15> Digital archive: Historic England. Various. National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) entry. 36264, Extant 21 June 2021.

External Links (1)

Other Statuses/References

  • Exmoor National Park HER Number (now deleted): MSO11538
  • Local List Status (No)
  • National Monuments Record reference: SS 84 SW22
  • National Park: Exmoor National Park
  • NRHE HOB UID (Pastscape): 36264
  • Somerset SMR PRN: 33933

Map

Location

Grid reference Centred SS 8400 4469 (6m by 6m) Centred on
Map sheet SS84SW
Civil Parish PORLOCK, WEST SOMERSET, SOMERSET

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Events/Activities (3)

Record last edited

Jun 21 2021 10:05PM

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