Angielake writes:
"The most important local site in South Devon" (next to Kent's Cavern) yet sadly neglected, this lovely old neolithic tomb lies overgrown with nettles and weeds in the hedge of a farmer's field.
It is situated on the [SE?] slopes of a hill that overlooks Broadsands, a popular local beach, yet few locals have ever heard of it. Though I did not have my compass with me, I'd guess it faced SE, though the large capstone had fallen [downslope] towards that direction. There are still some orthostats standing upslope of it, and others visible lying in the long grass. Looking over it towards the east, the waters of Tor Bay can be seen, and towards approx SW the village of Broadsands and, notably, the viaduct spanning the road to Broadsands Beach, carrying the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam railway.
I was fortunate to meet a lovely lady called Diana, who offered to show me the site. She had learned about it a few years previously, during a local protest against a proposal to build new homes in nearby fields. (This was turned down because of 'a nearby ancient monument'!)
It is reached by following a narrow track (by foot), at the end of the second car park behind the beach [just inland from the loos!], then going through a gate and bearing towards the right. As you climb up the hill in the next field, you'll see the gate to another field on the right, and going through this (there's a drystone wall just to your left here), the tomb will be noticeable in the hedge upslope.
A short-ish climb uphill brings you to the summit of the hill with a view towards the sea.
I first came across this information in Torquay Museum last Friday.
"One of the most important local sites is the small passage tomb 300 metres from the beach [a bit more than that!] at Broadsands. This is a unique construction for the whole southwest, and the oldest stone building in this part of Devon.
Built around 4,000 BC using 10 or 11 orthostats filled in with drystone walling and roofed using capstones, the largest weighing 6-7 tons.
The D-shaped chamber about 3m x 2m was entered along a short passage.
Its construction would have required a considerable community input and it would have marked the landscape, perhaps creating a sense of identity and territory.
The tomb only contained the remains of 4-5 people, although some bones may have been lost over time." [There is a photo of a display from Torquay Museum of a stone paving slab with two human leg bones lying on it.]* "It had a mixture of male, female and even child remains and appears to have different periods of use with a second phase of burial about 150 years after initial construction. The site then appears unused for burial for over 1,000 years, although the find of a pig bone dated to around 2,800 BC shows it may have been visited then."
* I'll post this photo up, but best to record here the caption:
"Human leg bones. A preserved stone paving slab from the Chamber Tomb at Broadsands. The slab has two human femur bones still embedded in soil that have been dated to 3768-3641 BC. Evidence from a stable isotope analysis shows that the occupants of the tomb had a diet almost wholly based on terrestrial foods, despite being buried and probably living so close to the sea. Excavation by C. Raleigh Radford in 1958."
I found a Torbay Local Plan pdf file by Googling, which had short descriptions of ancient sites. Though they quote the incorrect OS grid ref for this one, it does have the title "Broadsands Chambered Tomb", and "National Monument no. 33025"
"A Neolithic chambered passage tomb, originally larger, the circular cairn has been reduced by cultivation from 12m in diameter to around 7m north-south by 9m east-west. Excavation in 1958 revealed evidence of primary inhumations and later secondary burials and pottery. The site was probably disturbed during the medieval period when it was incorporated into the boundary between the parishes of Paignton and Brixham; it remains an administrative boundary today."
And in a Torbay Landscape character assessment pdf file:
(Under "Cultural Influences: Early human intervention".
".......... A Middle to Late Neolithic chambered tomb was constructed on the top of the hill above Broadsands in the period 3400-2400BC;...."
This isn't strictly true as it isn't on the 'top' of the hill.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road