MSO11326 - White Barrow, a Bronze Age barrow or cairn north of Codsend Moors (Monument)

Summary

A mound of earth and stone, variously described as a saucer or disc barrow or ring cairn. It helps to mark the Luccombe and Cutcombe parish boundary and is approximately 15.5 metres in diameter by 0.2 metres in height.

Please read the Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record .

Type and Period (2)

Protected Status

Full Description

At SS 8700 4143 there is a barrow which consists of a mound of earth and stone eccentrically situated within a rim of stones. It is much smaller than the nearby saucer barrow (MSO9185) but is of similar type and accepted as such by Grinsell with whom it was visited on the ground. See AO/65/191/1 and 2. It appears to be the mound shown and called White Barrow on the Tithe Map. Surveyed at 1/2500. [1-3] SS 8700 4145. Cutcombe 13. On boundary of Luccombe and Cutcombe parishes. Seen by Grinsell in 1965 on the recently swaled moor, the mound resembles a saucer barrow or disc barrow with interior mound 8 paces diameter and 1ft high, south of centre. Barrow overall 17 paces diameter and 0.5ft high. (Grinsell suggests that the cairn at SS 8746 4146 may be `White Barrow' - see MSO9185). [4] Very small and much mutilated mound covered with heather. May be a disc barrow but evidence for outer rims seems slight and fortuitous. [5] [SS 8700 4143] Tumulus (NR). [6] One of two cairns situated on open moorland at 293 metres Ordnance Datum. A. SS 8700 4143. A ring cairn cum disc barrow, situated in a hillcrest position, which accentuates its height when viewed from the west. It lies in deep heather on open moorland and in company with other cairns and barrows to the east (including the Rowbarrow group) is used as a marker for the Luccombe/Cutcome parish boundary. The feature measures 15.5 metres in overall diameter and comprises a stoney rim about 0.2 metres in height and from 1.7 to 3.7 metres in width. The enclosed area contains an off-centre mound 3.7 metres in diameter and 0.3 metres in height, and shows signs of disturbance, possibly from when the parish boundary post was erected. The cairn shown on an aerial photograph [7]. No information was gained to resolve the apparent name discrepancy [1,2]. The cairn is neither shown nor named on Day and Masters map of 1782 [8] or Greenwoods map of 1822 [9]. [10] The cairn was surveyed by differential GPS to SS 87004 41444. [11] The large mound recorded here, probably the remains of a ring cairn or disc barrow of Bronze Age date, is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs and has been transcribed as part of the Exmoor National Park NMP survey. The ring cairn, centred at circa SS 8700 4144 is approximately 15 metres in diameter and 0.2m in height. [12,13] The feature is depicted and marked "Tumulus" on the 2020 MasterMap data, at SS 8700 4144. [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> Verbal communication: Various. Various. Oral Information. L V Grinsell, City Museum, Bristol..
  • <2> Map: 1842. Cutcombe Tithe Map and Apportionment.
  • <3> Unpublished document: Quinnell, N.V.. Field Investigators Comments. Ordnance Survey visit, F1, 20 July 1965.
  • <4> Article in serial: Grinsell, L V. 1969. Somerset Barrows: part 1. Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society. 113. 30.
  • <5> Report: July 1976. National Trust site visit report.
  • <6> Map: Ordnance Survey. 1978. 1:10,000 Map, 1978. 1:10,000.
  • <7> Aerial photograph: Aerial photograph reference number . NMR AP SS8741/1/1092-3.
  • <8> Map: Day and Masters. 1782. County map of Somerset.
  • <9> Map: Greenwood. 1822. County map of Somerset.
  • <10> Unpublished document: Fletcher, M.J.. Field Investigators Comments. Ordnance Survey visit, F2, 9 March 1987.
  • <11> Unpublished document: Riley, H.. Field Investigators Comments. RCHME Field Investigation, 30 January 1997.
  • <12> Aerial photograph: Various. Various. Vertical Aerial Photograph. NMR OS/73109 952-3 (29 April 1973).
  • <13> Archive: 2007-2009. Exmoor National Park NMP: SS 84 SE. MD002185.
  • <14>XY Map: Ordnance Survey. 2020. MasterMap data. 1:2,500. [Mapped feature: #39891 ]
  • <15> Digital archive: Historic England. Various. National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) entry. 35934, Extant 2 March 2022.

External Links (1)

Other Statuses/References

  • Exmoor National Park HER Number (now deleted): MMO141
  • Exmoor National Park HER Number (now deleted): MSO7324
  • Exmoor National Park HER Number (now deleted): MSO9182
  • Local List Status (Proposed)
  • National Monuments Record reference: SS 84 SE2
  • National Park: Exmoor National Park
  • National Trust HER Record
  • NRHE HOB UID (Pastscape): 35934
  • Site of Special Scientific Interest
  • Somerset SMR PRN: 33682

Map

Location

Grid reference Centred SS 8700 4144 (19m by 18m)
Map sheet SS84SE
Civil Parish CUTCOMBE, WEST SOMERSET, SOMERSET
Civil Parish LUCCOMBE, WEST SOMERSET, SOMERSET

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (2)

Related Events/Activities (4)

Record last edited

Mar 2 2022 2:50PM

Feedback?

Your feedback is welcome. If you can provide any new information about this record, please contact us.