<< Our Photo Pages >> Hamel Down Beacon cairn - Cairn in England in Devon
Submitted by AngieLake on Sunday, 22 April 2007 Page Views: 4939
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Hamel Down Beacon cairn Alternative Name: Hameldown Beacon cairn; Grinsell Widecombe 6Country: England County: Devon Type: Cairn
Nearest Town: Ashburton Nearest Village: Widecombe in the Moor
Map Ref: SX70837891
Latitude: 50.595582N Longitude: 3.826373W
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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I have visited· I would like to visit
TheCaptain visited on 6th Dec 2022 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 3 On to the southern top of Hameldown at 517m, at a corner of the field wall, is another prominent large cairn, again with a Duke Stone on its top. The field wall makes no attempt to avoid the cairn, running right over it, but not across the centre. From here the views to the south open up with almost the whole of the southern moor and southeast Devon to be seen.
lauraaurora visited on 10th May 2021 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 3
AngieLake have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3 Ambience: 4 Access: 3
Butler tells us that this is the site of one of the chain of five beacons that once relayed signals across the interior of the county. (Situated between Buckland Beacon to the south and Meldon Hill northwards).
The field wall changes direction downhill on the top of the cairn and part of the structure has collapsed, leaving a gash across the southeast side.
While I was there, most walkers made a bee-line for it, to stand on top admiring the lovely views. Others were picnicking in its shelter as a very cold north wind was blowing on Easter Monday!
Update October 2019: This cairn is featured on the Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks (PDW) website - see their entry for the Hameldown Beacon Cairn, which tells us this is: "A grass covered cairn which was alleged to have been used as a beacon in (the) medieval period".
The cairn is also recorded as Pastscape Monument No. 445096 and as MDV7435 (Hameldown Beacon Cairn) on the Devon and Dartmoor HER. The cairn is also scheduled as Historic England List Entry No. 1003284 (Hameldown Beacon barrow).
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164m NW 321° Blackaton Down south (Hamel Down)* Cairn (SX70737904)
234m NW 319° Blackaton Down north (Hamel Down)* Cairn (SX70687909)
350m NNW 328° Two Barrows (Hamel Down)* Round Barrow(s) (SX70657921)
592m SSE 161° Hamel Down Cairn and Cist* Cairn (SX7100878345)
633m NNW 337° Hamel Down* Barrow Cemetery (SX706795)
672m NNW 336° Single Barrow (Hamel Down)* Round Barrow(s) (SX70577953)
1.0km NNW 344° Broad Barrow (Hamel Down)* Round Barrow(s) (SX70577990)
1.3km NNW 340° Hamel Down Cross* Ancient Cross (SX70428011)
1.4km NNE 27° Hamel Down row* Stone Row / Alignment (SX71488010)
1.5km NNE 17° Berry Pound Ancient Village or Settlement (SX713803)
1.7km NNW 341° Hamel Down Platform Cairn (North)* Cairn (SX70318057)
2.1km NNW 338° Grimspound* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX70078090)
2.2km ESE 106° Chinkwell Tor Cairn* Cairn (SX7293078250)
2.3km NNW 348° Grimslake Cist* Cairn (SX7041881165)
2.3km SSE 154° Saxon Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SX718768)
2.6km NW 314° Challacombe Down Standing Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX69028072)
2.6km NNW 338° Hookney Tor Cairn* Cairn (SX6990281310)
2.7km NW 315° Challacombe rows* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX68988082)
2.7km NW 314° Challacombe Down Cairn Circle* Cairn (SX68968083)
3.2km SSE 163° Dunstone Cup Stone Rock Art (SX71677585)
3.2km WNW 282° Soussons Down Cairns* Barrow Cemetery (SX6770079671)
3.3km E 91° Hound Tor Ring Cairn* Ring Cairn (SX7409778770)
3.3km W 265° Soussons Common* Stone Circle (SX6751178692)
3.3km WNW 287° Soussons Down Stone Row Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX6767079980)
3.4km NNW 335° Shapley Common* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX69428206)
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