<< Our Photo Pages >> Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist - Cist in England in Devon
Submitted by AngieLake on Tuesday, 11 September 2012 Page Views: 2892
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Blackslade Down Cairn and CistCountry: England County: Devon Type: Cist
Nearest Town: Ashburton Nearest Village: Widecombe
Map Ref: SX7341275510
Latitude: 50.565588N Longitude: 3.788753W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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External Links:
This ruined cairn and its reasonably intact cist lies in a shallow valley between Pil Tor and Wittaburrow on Dartmoor. On the OS map this area is marked as 'Blackslade Down'.
I was prompted to visit the site while researching the Foale's Arrishes area in Butler's 'Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities - Volume One, the East' [1991].
There is a close-up B&W photo of the cist in his book and the small slab of stone resting on the edge of one narrow side of the lining slabs does not lie in that position now (unless it has been hidden by grass). There is another larger flat piece, which might also be part of the covering slab, nearby.
Butler says:
"In a corner of an abandoned field 20 m to the north of the track from Blackslade Ford to Tunhill is a cairn surrounding a cist (0.7 x 1.1 m). It was damaged in the nineteenth century when way-wardens removed most of the cairnstones and exposed the cist at the centre. What is left is an irregular mound up to 0.5 m above ground level, with a diameter of about 10 m. The tops of an interior stone setting on the arc of a circle 6.5 m in diameter surround the cist." (I didn't look for those at the time, but they may appear in photos.)
"All four sides .. [of the cist]... are in place and a flat stone nearby may be a fragment of the cover slab. The interior was examined in 1871 when only some charcoal and a few fragments of pottery were found.
A little over 100 m to the west of the cairn the track curves around the edge of a polygonal enclosure about 70 x 50 m across. The walls are mainly of slab construction and it appears to be of prehistoric date. A reave approaches it from the south-east but alters course just past the track to form one of the walls. A more substantial bank and ditch connected with the medieval fields is built on to this wall next to an entrance, which suggests it was reused at this time."
Once you know where to look you can't miss this site. Don't expect to see a 'field' in the normal sense, but look for low banks that enclose the area near the track.
For directions, read the account on the Wittaburrow Cairn site page.
Update August 2019: This cist is featured on the Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks PDW) website - see their entry for the Blackslade Down Cist. This cist is also recorded as Pastscape Monument No. 445126 and scheduled as Historic England List ID 1003285, which classifies this monument as a round cairn and cist.
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