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Dartmoor kistvaens

Archaeology of deathBuildings and structures completed in the 3rd millennium BCBurial monuments and structuresDartmoorIUCN Category II
Drizzlecombe kist 5
Drizzlecombe kist 5

Dartmoor kistvaens are burial tombs or cists from the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, i.e. from c. 2500 BC to c. 1500 BC. Kistvaens have been found in many places, including Dartmoor, a 954 km2 (368 square miles) area of moorland in south Devon, England. The box-like stone tombs were created when the ancient people of the area lived in hut circles. Cists are often to be found in the centre of a cairn circle although some appear solitary which could be the result of the loss of an original slight mound. There are over 180 known cists on Dartmoor although there could be up to 100 that remain buried underneath unexplored cairns. In the South West there are no cists to be found on the Quantock Hills, only 2 to be found on Exmoor and 58 to be found on Bodmin Moor. The Dartmoor cists are unique in that about 94% have the longer axis of the tomb orientated in a NW/SE direction It appears that Dartmoor cists were positioned in such a way that the deceased were facing the Sun.In August 2011 an untouched cist, on Whitehorse Hill, near Chagford, was the first to be excavated on the moor for over 100 years. This burial yielded some rare Bronze Age artefacts made of organic materials.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Dartmoor kistvaens (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Dartmoor kistvaens
West Devon Dartmoor Forest

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Latitude Longitude
N 50.566666666667 ° E -4 °
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Blackbrook Head


PL20 6SS West Devon, Dartmoor Forest
England, United Kingdom
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Drizzlecombe kist 5
Drizzlecombe kist 5
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Nearby Places

Church of St Michael, Princetown
Church of St Michael, Princetown

The Anglican Church of St Michael (sometimes known as St Michael and All Angels) in Princetown, Devon, England was built between 1810 and 1814. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.The granite church stands near the middle of Dartmoor, 436 metres (1,430 ft) above sea level in an exposed location close to Dartmoor Prison. Permission for the construction of the church was given 1812 by the Lord Commissioners of the Admiralty. The church was designed by the architect Daniel Alexander and built by prisoners from the Napoleonic Wars and finished by those captured during the American war who were held in the prison, and is the only church in England to have been built by prisoners of war.The three stage west tower is surmounted by pinnacles. Prisoners of war were held in the prison until 1816 and then the church closed. It was reopened and reconsecrated in 1831. In 1868 the chancel was altered and between 1898 and 1901 further alterations and expansion were undertaken under the direction of Edmund Sedding. In 1915 the tower was restored.The east window has stained glass by Mayer of Munich, which was installed in 1910 in memory of the American prisoners who helped to build the church. The graves of many prisoners are in the churchyard. The window was partially funded by a donation of £250, in 1908, from the National Society United States Daughters of 1812 as part of their work commemorating those who died in the War of 1812. The church was declared redundant on 1 November 1995, and was vested in the Trust on 8 January 2001. It is still consecrated and it is used occasionally for services.