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Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue
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(30.8.2010) After leaving Glasscombe Corner stone row, with its ruined terminal cairn, we take a trackless route northeast, roughly following the alignment of the row. The hillside slopes downwards, towards the little valley of West Glaze Brook.
Even in this hot, dry weather the approach to the brook is muddy and damp - in winter this is probably a quagmire. The brook itself runs clear and quick, crossing it is a balancing act across uneven, slippery stones. Luckily it's narrow and we make it across without incident. The hillside then climbs again, to a broad neck of land separating West Glaze Brook from its eastern counterpart. Over to the ESE is the rounded bulk of Corringdon Ball hill, while the slumped lines of the attendant long barrow, our ultimate goal for the day, are now silhouetted against the skyline to the east.
On this neck of land is Corringdon Ball stone row, one of the more well-known of the rows of Dartmoor on account of the multiplicity of its rows. It lies amongst scattered clumps of gorse, vibrantly flowered with yellow at this time of year, and the stones are very small, easily hidden in the short grass. In truth I find myself rather underwhelmed by this site, for reasons I'm not really sure of. Perhaps it's the diminutive size of the stones, or the fact that the overall pattern is quite difficult to ascertain amongst the grass. Maybe it's simply the heat of the Bank Holiday sun overhead. The terminal cairn circle at the eastern end seems strangely resistant to easy plotting by eye, with only an arc of stones cutting across the end of the rows to mark its existence at all.
From this end of the rows, the contours drop steeply again to East Glaze Brook and G/F decides she doesn't want to make the final crossing, electing to stay under the welcome shade of some trees near to the row while I go on to visit Corringdon Ball long barrow.
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Posted by thesweetcheat
21st January 2012ce
Edited 21st January 2012ce
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