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England
Yellowmead Multiple Stone CircleStone Circle
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The walk from here to the circles is longer than it looks, dropping down into boggier, then muddier, ground. I pass an uninterested group of wild horses, then a rather more nosey herd of cattle, before reaching the circles themselves. I have them to myself, despite the large number of people I can see on Gutter Tor away to the south. According to Burl, this site was heavily restored in the 1920s by the Rev. Breton. There has been much speculation about it since, including the possibility that it is actually the remains of a round cairn, which would not be out of the question when compared with the construction of the terminal ring cairns at nearby Drizzlecombe. There are a host of features to look at here. Slightly uphill to the ENE, the remains of a much smaller cairn circle overlook the main site. The visible stones of this are small, little more than stumps breaking clear of the cropped grass. In the opposite direction, downhill and the west of the circles, are the remains of a short avenue. A possible continuation extends over the other side of a nearby leat. Again these are small stones, size-wise comparable with the stones of the avenues at Cerrig Duon in South Wales. The real draw is of course the four circles themselves. Not quite concentric, only two share the same centre and only one (the central) is a true circle. The outermost circle contains the biggest stones, especially to the SE. Even so, none of the stones is over five feet tall and there are a lot of smaller stones in between. The next two rings are comprised of much smaller stones. The central circle is beautifully constructed, the stones virtually touching on the southern arc, making a closed ring surrounding a central space with a diameter a little less than 22 feet. If there was a central cairn, it is gone. The nearby Tors dominate the landscape of the circles, particularly Sheeps Tor to the NW. The position suggests very strongly that these surrounding features were of paramount importance in the siting of the monument, for it has no extensive views or commanding altitude of its own. Like many of the stone circles of England (West Cornwall and The Peaks, as well as nearby Brisworthy), the presence of a nearby rocky hilltop seems likely to have had significance to the builders. I spend an hour or so here, watching another band of black rain cloud approach over Sheeps Tor, but passing on its way without delivering its cargo at Yellowmead. It is very peaceful, not a soul comes this way while I'm here. This little site enthralls me. I have no idea whether it is true to its original layout or a restorer's fantasy. I'm not sure it matters at all. Like Belas Knapp, in my opinion we are richer in having it restored in this way, than we would be if it was left as found in the 1920s. This post appears as part of the weblog entry Wheels within wheels – Yellowmead, Dartmoor 7 August 2010
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Posted by thesweetcheat19th December 2010ce |
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I parked once more by the scout hut, and started walking that way, when the gate is reached almost double back across the dryest part of the moor, then follow the wall with it on your left, when you can see the farm buildings, head towards Sheepstor (the hill) and the stones are obvious. dry feet at a dartmoor circle how unlikely was that. All four circles were covered in poo, from several different sources, but the scenery and the lovely little circles more than make up for it. The central circle is damn near perfect the next two outer circles are made from tiny stones and the outer ring has the biggest stones of all especially on the southern side. A very photgenic place, but what you really need is to see it from above. On the way back when the wall stopped, I tried to take the direct route back to the car instead of retracing my steps back to the scout hut, big mistake, I was wet once more. The best route is definatley the right hand route, it is longer but is also drier . |
Posted by postman22nd June 2008ce Edited 22nd June 2008ce |
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I was looking forward to the madness of Yellowmead. It's not the easiest to get to though - don't expect a path and do expect to get your feet wet as you go bog-wading. And you need your megalith-antenna on maximum setting to find it- oh and an OS map, of course. It wasn't immediately clear where the hell it was, although we knew we were going in the right direction. Suddenly it dawned on Moth that the large herd of ponies we could see had chosen it as a cool place to hang out. We approached cautiously. Though they looked cute and cuddly we were aware they are wild animals and had some very young foals with them to protect. It became clear that they weren't going to move for us and we'd just have to work round them. It meant we couldn't walk among the small stones at all but had to walk round and round to try and get a sense of what was going on between the hoofs, sleeping foals, squabbling stallions and grazing mares. Were there four rings? Was it a cairn? The ponies weren't saying. This post appears as part of the weblog entry The 'Must-Sees' we saw on Dartmoor
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Posted by Jane10th July 2005ce Edited 10th July 2005ce |
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My first site on a walk that would take me to many other historic remains this sunny May day. The circle is small...and too perfect for my liking! Something in my head tells me that this originated as a simple cairn but when the restorers got here they decided to create a stone circle (or 4). I missed the stone row but as i was to see later that would tie in with the cairn thoughts. It is a nice spot (although the aroma from the recently spread field nearby was a bit off putting) with Sheeps Tor towering over it from the west. To think I sat up there on countless occasions back in the late 80s and never even noticed this site.... This post appears as part of the weblog entry Two Different Days on Dartmoor
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Posted by Mr Hamhead13th May 2005ce Edited 20th May 2005ce |
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Thanks to the directions in Goffik's fieldnotes, I got here without incident: the sun was shining, and, as I tramped across the moor, Skylarks rose from the ground before me, singing their song, but finding little purchase in the gusting wind that blew cold from the south-east. The long grass was dry, flat and bleached white, but the peat beneath still held it's generous allotment of water, squelching beneath my Size 12's as I approached from the east. The circles themselves, and the little avenue, sit well in the landscape, between the imposing mass of Sheepstor, and the lesser height of Gutter Tor. As the small stone row certainly seems to align through the circle to the smaller five stone circle slightly higher up the slope, and I believe towards a flat (fallen?) stone south-west of the circle (and the small stream) on the slope. One stone of the inner circle is recumbent: perhaps it was too heavy for the restorers of 1921? It is a peaceful place, worth the twenty-minute tromp from the car park: stay a while and try to figure it out - you'll find yourself lost in a very simple landscape. A walk around four concentric circles* (all but the outer one complete) allow the visitor to view the moor in different aspects; the impressive grandeur of neighbouring Sheeps Tor, the greener enclosed land of the farm in the valley below, the gently sloping rough grassland that hides the circle from the east, and the distant granite tumble of Leather Tor. A marvellous place to recharge and ponder beneath the blue spring sky. I walked out via Sheeps Tor, down into the green lushness of the valley beyond the farm; as I came out onto the road leading back to the car, I happened to look up to my left across the valley towards Sheeps Tor. Amazingly, a near-perfect circle of some sixty sheep were formed in a field below the Tor... synchronicity? No, they were being fed by a farmer on a quad bike! * An interesting entry in Volume 5 of the Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities (Jeremy Butler, 1997, p186) notes that: "perhaps......multiple rings, such as the free-standing stone circles, represent a faint ancestral echo of those gigantic pillared monuments in stone or wood in Wessex." |
Posted by Pilgrim21st April 2005ce Edited 22nd April 2005ce |
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Wow. That's what I say, anyway! What an absolutely peaceful place this is... only the wind, sheep and birds making any noise. Oh, and the occasional low-flying aircraft! Bloody MOD... But what a weird one! I knew this was made up of smallish stones, but I was shocked at how small! Some of the stones are weeny, but the whole place feels really powerful... Just so peaceful, calm and relaxing... I will most certainly come back here... and so should you! Directions: On the A386, come off the big roundabout at Yalverton. There is a row of shops, and a small road leading off behind them towards Meavy. Follow the signposts to Sheepstor until you see a sign for Nattor - head for Nattor - the car park is at the end of the road. From the car park, the circle is roughly North-West and can be reached in a number of very squidgy, marshy routes: Direct - through the stream - very wet!; From the left - along the fence - still boggy and streamy!; from the right - boggy, soggy, marshy, but probably the driest and there are some discernable paths... Go on then! Off you go! |
Posted by goffik2nd March 2004ce Edited 9th January 2006ce |
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Another Dartmoor oddity here! Yellowmead consists of 4, not quite concentric, circles and a short row. The tallest stones lie just South of East with the row slightly West of South. The stones of the innermost circle form a near continuous wall. |
Posted by stewartb 22nd March 2003ce |
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As FourWinds says in the associated forum posts - Yellowmead is surely all about the Tor that overlooks the site: Sheeps Tor (don't blame me for the lack of apostrophe, blame the OS). And up on Sheeps Tor, naturally, there are pixies.Amid [the 'vast clatter of boulders' on the side on which the village lies] is a narrow opening between two upright rocks, which will admit the visitor, though not without a little difficulty, into a small grotto, celebrated in local legend, and known as the Pixies' Cave.From chapter 1 of 'Tales of the Dartmoor Pixies' by William Crossing [1890]. Online in full at the Sacred Texts Archive. http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/tdp/tdp02.htm |
Posted by Rhiannon3rd March 2007ce Edited 3rd March 2007ce |
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The circles were reconstructed from the fallen stones in 1921 - apparently faithfully to their original positions. There is another fourfold circle at Shovel Down. |
Posted by greywether14th December 2003ce |
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MegalithicsA page about Yellowmead on this archive of over 5000 photos of stone circles and other megalithic monuments in the British Isles, Ireland and Europe. |
Posted by Pilgrim 25th May 2005ce Edited 25th May 2005ce |
Liminae |
Posted by stewartb 22nd March 2003ce |
Megalithic Walks siteSeven pictures and guide. |
Posted by phil 13th January 2002ce Edited 21st July 2005ce |
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