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How and why the ancients enchanted Great Britain and Brittany

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Native American Indian Mounds

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<< 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 Cist
Country: England County: Devon Type: Cist
Nearest Town: Ashburton  Nearest Village: Widecombe
Map Ref: SX7341275510
Latitude: 50.565588N  Longitude: 3.788753W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
3 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by AngieLake : A photo of the cist showing a larger slab nearby that could possibly be part of the original cover slab. [3.9.12] (Vote or comment on this photo)
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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Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by Bladup : Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist with the rocks on Wittaburrow behind. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by Bladup : Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by Bladup (Vote or comment on this photo)

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by AngieLake : Looking south over the cairn towards Wittaburrow. (The cairn on its summit can just be glimpsed here.) Also, the wall of the newtake with its sharp corner is a good marker for finding the Blackslade Down cairn and cist. The bank of the ancient field is also visible running left to right across the centre. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by AngieLake : Looking over the cairn towards Rippon Tor. [3.9.12] (Vote or comment on this photo)

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by AngieLake : Looking west over the cist.

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by AngieLake : A closer look at Blackslade Down cist with Tunhill Rocks in the distance.

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by AngieLake : Blackslade Cairn and Cist and Wittaburrow. (Those are rocky outcrops on the summit, not the cairn at Wittaburrow.)

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by AngieLake : A view over the rather chaotic appearance of the cairn and cist towards Tunhill Rocks. Behind Tunill Rocks is Hameldown and the dark summit peeking over the hill is Chinkwell Tor. [3.9.12]

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by AngieLake : A view towards Pil Tor, showing the central area of the cairn with the cist and possible fragment of cover slab. [3.9.12]

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by AngieLake : Looking down into Blackslade Down Cist.

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by AngieLake : The ruined cairn with the cist in the centre, looking towards Haytor and Saddle Tor in distance, and Rippon Tor to right. [3.9.12]

Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist
Blackslade Down Cairn and Cist submitted by AngieLake : A view from a track on the lower slopes of Wittaburrow, looking north towards Pil Tor. The cairn lies to the right of centre in this photo. It also shows some of the stony but grassy-looking tracks leading uphill. I returned up the one to right of centre, via which I had intended to come down!

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 308m SSW 192° Wittaburrow Cairn* Cairn (SX73347521)
 362m NW 321° Tunhill Rocks* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX7318975796)
 507m NE 43° Foales Arrishes* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX73777587)
 894m N 4° Top Tor row Stone Row / Alignment (SX735764)
 975m N 8° Top Tor Cairns* Cairn (SX7357476472)
 1.0km NE 43° Seven Lords' Lands* Stone Circle (SX74127623)
 1.2km E 85° Rippon Tor* Cairn (SX74667558)
 1.8km W 280° Dunstone Cup Stone Rock Art (SX71677585)
 2.1km NW 307° Saxon Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX718768)
 2.3km S 175° Buckland Ridge South Ring Cairn (SX73577324)
 2.4km S 177° Ten Commandments Stone* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (SX735731)
 2.6km S 177° Stidwell* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX735729)
 2.8km NNW 349° Chinkwell Tor Cairn* Cairn (SX7293078250)
 3.3km N 10° Hound Tor Ring Cairn* Ring Cairn (SX7409778770)
 3.5km NE 37° Smallacombe Rocks Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX7558378211)
 3.5km NNE 19° Hound Tor Deserted Medieval Village* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX74627878)
 3.6km NNE 13° Hound Tor Enclosure* Causewayed Enclosure (SX74307897)
 3.7km NW 318° Hamel Down Cairn and Cist* Cairn (SX7100878345)
 4.1km NE 49° Haytor Down Ring Cairn (SX76617814)
 4.3km NW 321° Hamel Down Beacon cairn* Cairn (SX70837891)
 4.3km NE 39° Black Hill Cairns* Cairn (SX762788)
 4.4km NW 321° Blackaton Down south (Hamel Down)* Cairn (SX70737904)
 4.5km NW 321° Blackaton Down north (Hamel Down)* Cairn (SX70687909)
 4.6km NW 322° Two Barrows (Hamel Down)* Round Barrow(s) (SX70657921)
 4.9km NW 324° Hamel Down* Barrow Cemetery (SX706795)
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