Cairns, cists and stone rows .. Bellevor Tor environs .. Dartmoor pt 3

On the wettest day of our trip, we caught up with A & Z for a socially distanced exploration of the monuments of Lakehead Hill & Bellevor Tor.

Cairn and cist detail

Cairn detail

Stone row

This cairn, cist and stone row setting was simply beautiful, even more so for its unexpected "reveal", appearing within a small glade as you walked down a short forest track. I found it difficult to leave and took too many photographs, instead of simply spending time within it. A new site for a future pilgrimage.

In complete contrast the next cairn we viewed was with the most unwelcoming of monuments I have ever encountered. In response to my usual silent greeting to ancestors and request for permission to enter the circle of kerb stones - I felt the strangest of pressures on my chest - pushing against me to move away from the site. This sensation was new to me, and I heeded the discomfort and did not enter.

An unwelcoming cairn

Not wishing to spend anymore time with the unwelcoming cairn, I headed off quickly to track down a solitary cist, its cairn lost long ago below the woodland edge. Then on to Kraps Ring settlement - whose scale defied any meaningful photography - having walked the perimeter - we settled for lunch on the stones of a presumed hut circle.

Heading South we passed beneath the mist clad Bellevor Tor, and beyond to Laughter Tor. From the the summit of Laughter Tor - we picked up the line to follow to get to the single standing stone positioned at the upper end of a double stone row. The stone rows ran approx south-south-east before ending abruptly at a more modern field boundary. A little below the field boundary we found a second double stone row, which appeared to follow the first on the same bearing, and thus possibly belonged to the same monument?

Standing stone (looking South)

Double stone row - looking South towards field boundary

Double stone row - looking north towards
field boundary and standing stone beyond