Wistman's Wood, and Higher White Tor double stone row

Wistman's Wood, and a second return to this hauntingly beautiful upland oak woodland laying on the south western slopes of Longaford Tor, above the West Dart River.

Wistman’s Wood is one of three high altitude oak woodlands on Dartmoor. The site is a National National Reserve, and an important site because of the mosses and lichens which grow on its trees and granite boulders. The oldest trees recorded are about 400 years old. The reserve is also the location of a large Bronze Age settlement, with over 100 buildings being recorded (Natural England 2014).

Above the wood, to the north east, and lying between Longaford Tor and Higher White Tor is the remains of a double stone row some 94.5m long. The rows run parallel in an approximate north/south alignment, and consist of 12 upright and 24 recumbant stones. As with other similar monuments on Dartmoor the stone rows are usually dated to the late Neolithic Ca. 2400 - 2000BC (English Heritage 2014). Although excavations of a recently discovered stone row at Cut Hill, provided radio-carbon dates for the peat found lying beneath its fallen stones, which suggested that the Cut Hill stone row at least may have been in place Ca. 3700 - 3400BC (Newman 2011).

The four views above of the double stone row, comprise three looking south, and a single view looking north towards Higher White Tor.

Bibliography

English Heritage 2014 [Online], Scheduled Monument 1020239: stone alignment 260m south of Higher White Tor, to be found at:

http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1020239

Natural England 2014 [Online], Devon's National Nature Reserves. To be found at:

http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/devons-national-nature-reserves/devons-national-nature-reserves

Newman, P. 2011, The Field Archaeology of Dartmoor, English Heritage, Swindon