MDE1292 - Bronze Age round cairn on Thornworthy Common (Monument)

(SS 7156 4455) Hut Circle (NR). [1] On Thornworthy Common a circular stony patch of bracken, shown as a hut circle on the Ordnance Survey map but possibly the site of a cairn, 10 paces in diameter and six inches high, largely removed to supply material for the road to the west. [2,3] SS 7158 4455 As described by Grinsell; however there is not enough evidence to establish it as a cairn site. Sited on 1:2500. [4] SS 71587 44552. A round cairn, 13 metres in diameter and 0.5 metres maximum height levelled into a gentle north facing slope on Thornworthy Common. Located in an area of heather, bracken and rough grass some 320 metres above Ordnance Datum. It is prominently situated with clear views from the southwest northwards around to the southeast and it overlooks the cairn cemetery on Ilkerton Ridge some 500 metres to the northeast. The cairn is covered in bracken and turf and has been robbed leaving its surface uneven with several amorphous humps and hollows and a rather irregular perimeter. Probing revealed a content of stone just below the surface. The interior shows a definite rise towards the centre and its stone content, though disturbed, is fairly consolidated. There does not appear to be a kerb as such but several stones are evident around the perimeter. Due to the heavy cover of vegetation its exact diameter is difficult to ascertain but it is within a few decimetres of 13 metres. Surveyed at 1:2500. [5-7] The cairn described by [7] above is clearly visible on aerial photographs as a small amorphous mound, measuring approximately 12.5 metres in diameter. [8-9] The cairn is depicted and labelled on 2021 MasterMap data at SS 7158 4455. [10] "Hut circle" marked on six inch 1903/1938 Ordnance Survey map. [11] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [12] SS 7158 4455. A circular stony mound with irregular hollows on its flat top was noted on Thornworthy Common during field survey following a wildfire in 2022. The feature was measured as 9 metres in diameter and 0.4 metres high. It was interpreted as a late Neolithic or Bronze Age cairn. [13]