Stone Circles, and Stone Rows .. Yellowmead, Dartmoor pt. 1

We started out from Yellowmead Farm at 10:50AM crossed the fields to Yellowmead Stone Circle, following the field boundaries - as per the instructions in our cottage's welcome pack.

The stone complex as recorded on the OS map reads “Cairn Circles” (OS Explorer OL28). However, the description is of a fourfold stone circle (four concentric stone circles) in "The Field Archaeology of Dartmoor" belonging to the Early Bronze Age (Newman, P. 2011).

The circles do surround a central cairn (Historic England 2023) although this was not obvious, and I had to intuitively sense its placement rather than see it in situ. Any raised ground indicating the presence of a central cairn being slight enough to suggest natural topography.

four concentric stone circles

central stone circle surrounding a cairn

To the immediate southwest the remains of a double stone row are visible. This site reminded us in part of Shovel Down, which also boasts a double stone row terminating at a four concentric stone circles. Whilst the latter fourfold circle is just half the diameter of Yellowmead (Thurlow, G. 2001) the combined stone settings at Shovel Down is landscape scale compared to the remains at Yellowmead.

William Lethbridge (2015) indicates that the Yellowmead Circles, differs today from the earliest description of the site made by R. H. Worth of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee [DEC]. The committee surveyed and produced literature between 1893 - 1906 (DartmoorCam 2023). In the DEC report the circles comprised of 104 stones – now 106; and with six stone placements at right angles to the circles which have since disappeared, along with two of the stones of the double stone row (Thurlow, G. 2001).

double stone row detail

Leaving Yellowmead behind us, we headed south, and explored the numerous cairns at the base of Gutter Tor, looking for, but failing to find the Cist.

one of several cairns
at the base of Gutter Tor

Gutter Tor

Ascending Gutter Tor I found the natural rock basins in the summit rocks.

natural rock basins, Gutter Tor

After lunch, we set a compass bearing for the remains of a farmstead on Ringmoor Down. From the farmstead, we planned to follow the field boundaries anti-clockwise to avoid crossing Legis Mire on our way to the local stone row. However, after scanning a distant anomaly with the binoculars – I noted a single standing stone – so we decided to head straight for that instead.

"that looks like a standing stone over there .. 
.. although it could just turn out to be a cattle rubbing post?"

Crossing Legis Mire we found it was not as wet under foot as anticipated. The standing stone turned out to be in the northern end of the sought-after stone row alignment, and we followed the row south and uphill to the cairn circle which was set at its terminus. As we ascended the stone row in places became a double stone row (Lethbridge, W. D. 2015).

heading south (and uphill) along the stone row

Evidence that it may have originally been a double stone row?
after Lethbridge (2015) 

And on to the terminal cairn

Newman (2011) indicates that although there is a lack of precision in dating the stone rows of Dartmoor, it is most probable that they belong to the late Neolithic / early Bronze Age periods. Particularly with respect to those rows, such as at Brisworthy which are strongly associated with cairns, and often with burial remains. See also below for the stone complex at Merrivale (Blogs passim).

At this point, in our walk, we had to concede that we had both come out ill-prepared for the dry heat and clear sunny skies that the day provided. We had forgotten to bring sunblock, underestimated our water requirements, and along with the prolonged exposure on the open moor, we were starting to feel overheated and sunburnt. As such we decided to head back north, rather than extend the walk south to the Brisworthy Stone Circle, but not before we had located the bijou stone circle to the southwest. Lethbridge (2015) suggests that this small circle has had several stones added in more recent times.

Our return journey took longer than we had hoped given how hot and tired we both were by mid-afternoon. The higher moor to the east of Yellowmead Farm’s field boundaries was heavily waterlogged and we could not find and refollow the outward route. After a significant detour, we reached the Farm at 15:30 PM. Over our day’s walk we had covered 10.5KM but with the exposure on the moor it had felt a lot further!

Accommodation

The Meeting House, Yellowmead Farm

Bibilography

DartmoorCAM (2023) [Online] Dartmoor Expedition Committee

https://www.dartmoorcam.co.uk/CAM/DartmoorExplorationCommittee/DEC.htm Accessed 29th October 2023

Historic England (2023) [Online] Yellowmead stone circles, cairn and stone alignment

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1010212?section=official-list-entry Accessed 29th October 2023

Lethbridge, W.D. (2015) Discover Prehistoric Dartmoor, A Walkers Guide to the Moorland's Ancient Monuments Halsgrove, Somerset

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

Ordnance Survey Dartmoor Showing part of the National Park Map OS Explorer OL28 1:25,000 scale

Thurlow, G. (2001) Revised Edition Thurlow's Dartmoor Companion Peninsula Press, Newton Abbott, Devon

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

Grimspound & Challacombe triple stone row .. Dartmoor pt 1

Hamel Down Tor

We walked straight out from Widecombe Cottage, heading north through Widecombe on The Moor before taking a left turn off the Ponsworthy Road shortly after leaving the village. At the end of the road, we reached the footpath to, and subsequently the boundary of the higher moor of Hamel Down.

The route across Hamel Down is a section of the Two Moors Way which follows the humpback ridge, and takes you past a wealth of archaeological features as it heads solidly towards Grimspound and Hookney Tor beyond.

Our first distraction from the panoramic views, came in the form of a ruined barrow, almost overlooked if it hadn't had a few low stones set about it's perimeter. The cist within however was very obvious, and made us wonder why the feature did not appear on the OS map we carried?

"unmarked" barrow and cist

"unmarked" cist

Later, in the week I was to find a reference to the unmarked cist and barrow, in W.D. Lethbridge's "Discover Prehistoric Dartmoor A Walker's Guide To The Moorlands Ancient Monuments" (2015) which I purchased from the National Trust shop in Widecombe on the Moor. This excellent book also put us onto the stunning sequence of stone rows and monuments at Shovel Down! Of the unmarked cist on Hamel Down, Lethbridge surmises that it must have originally had two capstones, where only one is present now.

Continuing, we arrived at Hamel Down Beacon, closely followed by Two Barrows, Single Barrow and Broad Barrow. Newman (2011) tells us these barrows form part of a cairn alignment comprising 13 separate cairns upon Hamel Down; referring to this alignment as demonstrating that the “Cairn chronology and locations suggest – [they were] established over generations, Combining tradition of [a] communities association with a place, links with spiritual presence of ancestors, funerary arrangements, territory and place”.

Hamel Down Beacon

Two Barrows

Single Barrow

Newman (2011) citing the 1892 excavation of Two Barrows suggests the cairn as probably having a phased sequence of separate constructions over an extended period of time, being a mound containing both a stone ring and central cairn. Of Broad Barrow he describes it as one of the largest cairns on Dartmoor being over 50m in diameter.

Broad Barrow

En route to Broad Barrow we were intrigued by a series of timber posts which stretched in a line across the down. We wondered if they might be way markers or snow poles? Or some kind of boundary marker. The post we inspected was very rotted through and chock full of interesting lichen and mosses. As it turns out the posts are the remnants of WWII anti-glider defences, the moors having been identified as a possible landing stage for German airborne invasion (Newman 2011).

WWII anti-glider post

Taking a westerly diversion from the path, the remains of a mediaeval wayside cross marks the boundary of a 19th Century estate belonging to the Duke of Somerset (Historic England 2017). The cross is decrepit comprising of only the upright and a single arm, the head and other arm being broken. The Historic England listing for this monument reports that damaged wayside crosses “bear marks of damage and destruction because they underwent the wrath of iconoclasts during periods of religious turmoil, and in this sense the damaged cross bears witness to such turbulent times, the evidence of which is clearly apparent” (Historic England 2017).

Mediaeval Cross (Remains of)

Returning to the Two Moors Way we proceeded to Hamel Down Tor, and then shortly after arrived at Grimspound.

Hamel Down Tor

Grimspound - towards Hookney Tor

Bibliography

Historic England (2017) [Online] Hamel Down Cross https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1004576

Lethbridge, W.D. (2015) Discover Prehistoric Dartmoor A Walker's Guide To The Moorland's Ancient Monuments Halsgrove, Somerset

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