MSO7031 - Bronze Age burial cairn at Elsworthy (Monument)

The remains of a robbed Bronze Age burial cairn, visible as a turf covered stony mound, measures 7.6 metres by 8.4 metres by 0.4 metres high. It may have been robbed during the construction of the nearby Porlock to Simonsbath railway.

A stony bank forming a sub circular hut wall, 1.8 metres wide and up to 0.5 metres high, is located at Elsworthy. The entrance is to the westnorthwest. It is 7.7 metres in diameter. There is a small stony mound to the southeast. [1] There are two further round mounds to the northeast. [2] Centred at SS 8142 4138 is a robbed cairn. The feature, previously interpreted as a hut circle, comprises a circular, turf covered, stony mound 7.6 metres north to south by 8.4 metres west to east, and 0.4 metres high. The centre of the cairn has been robbed in the form of a substantial hollowing between 3.3 metres and 4.4 metres in diameter, and 0.5 metres deep (it has therefore, removed most of the central part of the cairn to below original ground level). This operation has left only the outer rim of the cairn, which gives the superficial appearance of a ring feature. The alleged entrance on the westnorthwest could not be found. It seems likely that the comprehensive robbing of this feature in a remote area of moorland, is probably the result of the construction of the Porlock to Simonsbath Railway (MSO7906) close by. [4] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [5]