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Butterdon Hill
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25 posts
Butterdon Stone Row / Alignment |
20 posts
Butterdon Hill Cairn(s) |
6 posts
Butterdon Hill cairn circle Stone Circle |
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7 posts
Butterdon Hill Chambered Tomb Chambered Tomb |
4 posts
Butterdon Hill (north) cairn Round Cairn |
Latest posts for Butterdon Hill |
Showing 1-10 of 62 posts. Most recent first | Next 10 
Butterdon Hill Chambered Tomb — Fieldnotes |
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A summer visit (30.8.2010) is probably not the time to see the best of this long barrow. After leaving Cuckoo Ball we head north along further sheep tracks, not entirely sure that we would find this in the thick bracken. However, the low mound is still apparent and a bit of poking and prodding around in the coverung vegetation reveals the presence of a number of in-situ slabs, which Jeremy Butler has suggested may represent remains of a gallery grave. In truth this is not the most impressive of monuments, and its main attraction is the scarcity of such Neolithic relics on Dartmoor. We continue north, towards Spurrell's Cross stone row, en route to the furthest and final Neolithic site of the day, the chambered long barrow at Corringdon Ball. |
Posted by thesweetcheat4th December 2011ce |
Butterdon Hill Chambered Tomb — Images (click to view fullsize) |
  
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Posted by thesweetcheat 24th September 2010ce |
Butterdon (Stone Row / Alignment) — Fieldnotes |
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Anyway, I have found my first Dartmoor cairn circle and from here I can find the start of my first row. It heads roughly north, consisting of small (a foot or so tall) stones and crosses over a mile of moorland to a terminus on Piles Hill. On its route it passes the sandcastle-esque Butterdon Hill (north) cairn, which has gained its unusual look by excavation followed by a covering of turf. The direction of the row changes slightly north of this cairn, possibly suggesting that it was erected in more than one phase. As the row starts to head up towards Piles Hill a taller and more modern boundary marker creeps in amongst the lower stones of the row. Further north Sharp Tor and Three Barrows are now in view, more hills topped with bronze age cairns. As the row approaches Hobajons Cross it still consists of very low stones, and the cross itself is merely a taller upright that has been christianised by the incision of a small cross near its top. It is possible that this stone was once the terminus of the row (see Jeremy Butler's "Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities"). From here most of the stones are missing as the line of the row climbs Piles Hill to its leaning terminal stone (shown as "recumbent" on the OS). This post appears as part of the blog post "On the buses (and trains) – Pt 3 Dartmoor"
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Posted by thesweetcheat 23rd August 2010ce |
Butterdon Hill cairn circle (Stone Circle) — Fieldnotes |
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But the main draw for me is a cairn circle, which marks the southern terminal of the second-longest stone row on Dartmoor. It takes me a while to find the circle, even in low grass. Burl mentions that one of the stones is upright, but in fact all are fallen (although a couple are still – just about – leaning). There is the merest hint of the cairn mound in the centre and the stones are quite nice shapes, several tapering at what I assume was the top when they were originally erected. This post appears as part of the blog post "On the buses (and trains) – Pt 3 Dartmoor"
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Posted by thesweetcheat 23rd August 2010ce |
Butterdon Hill (Cairn(s)) — Fieldnotes |
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As the ground starts to rise again towards Butterdon, I pass a taller boundary stone, marked on the OS as "Longstone", while the trig point on the hill ahead is another visual prompt. The first Butterdon cairn is already looking like a monster, silhouetted on the skyline. When I reach it, I find a small triangular stone in front of it, but can't work out if it "belongs" to anything else – perhaps it's part of the boundary line, but it looks to be of a different character and I make out (I think) a low semi-circular bank that appears to incorporate the stone. Another, even bigger, cairn marks the northern end of the summit. This is a huge cairn, 30 metres across and still 4 metres high. From here there are excellent views all around, with every hill apparently topped by more cairns. This post appears as part of the blog post "On the buses (and trains) – Pt 3 Dartmoor"
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Posted by thesweetcheat 23rd August 2010ce |
Butterdon Hill (north) cairn (Round Cairn) — Images |
  
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Posted by thesweetcheat 7th July 2010ce |
Showing 1-10 of 62 posts. Most recent first | Next 10
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