Missing Monuments

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Pilgrim P
Pilgrim Feb 4, 2009 09:52:19
Replying to thesweetcheat

thesweetcheat wrote:
Totally agree that there needs to be a management plan, but not that it should go the way of the Heath Project, i.e. inappropriate barbed wire fences preventing access and cows roaming/rubbing/trampling around the monuments.

Let's face it, most of the people who use this site (I guess, sweeping generalisation anyway) would prefer to have the monuments accessible, visible AND protected, rather than either (a) preserved in aspic behind fences or (b) destroyed due to misguided good intentions (e.g. the cattle thing). I know that the moors need to be managed, but they need to be managed so that their essential spirit and character is also preserved along with the archaeology.

I'll stop going on about West Penwith though because it's seriously off topic! :-)

Cheers,

Alken

Hi, Alken,

I'm in broad agreement with what you say, but a lot of the Moor's stone rows suffer from being made of small (and therefore easily portable) stones; a lot of stones have gone missing over the years, incorporated into newtake walls etc (laughter Tor for instance http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/6967/laughter_tor.html), and these days it doesn't take much bracken and gorse to hide these poor lumps once and for all; even in winter, when the bracken is dead, the stones are still hidden by gorse etc.

The small Cantrell stone row up above Bittaford (http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/11487/cantrell_stone_row.html) is another case in point; it's only wee, but it took the best part of an hour to find it - and that was in the autumn!

The strong and tenacious roots of bracken and gorse can damage and weaken both stones and settings. If cows, sheep and ponies aren't good for them (and I agree we DON'T want them fenced off), then it's up to the Dartmoor NPA to step in and actively conserve the structure and its setting.

Peace

Pilgrim

X

S Stoneshifter
Stoneshifter Feb 4, 2009 14:33:05
Replying to Pilgrim

Stone rows are the most neglected class of monuments - arguably. If they were circles they'd be 'Scheduled' and better looked after.

T thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Feb 4, 2009 15:47:25
Replying to Pilgrim

Pilgrim wrote:
... it's up to the Dartmoor NPA to step in and actively conserve the structure and it's setting.
Hi Pilgrim,

Again, I agree with what you've said (and yes, smaller structures are most at risk in these situations) - I don't know anything about Dartmoor NPA, but it strikes me that the current fencing/cow thing in Penwith is occuring precisely because the National Trust and other landowners don't want to bother with "active conservation" and may well also be happy to keep access restricted as it makes for easier management.

It would be a terrible shame if the only way to "preserve" sites like the stone rows on Dartmoor was to put fences across the open moors to allow the introduction of stock. There must be a way of balancing the need to keep down the encroaching vegetation and also allow access to the sites for all.

The sad thing is that there are individuals in these areas who would gladly give up their weekends to clear sites if that would help keep the gorse/bracken problem at bay.

I have not been to West Penwith since November, so perhaps I'm overstating the problem there and speaking without first-hand information. However, after first going there due to reading about the sites in the pages of TMA (the book), I have visited many, many sites because of the works of Ian McNeil Cooke and Craig Weatherhill. Both of these people are deeply unhappy* with the way that things are being "managed" and I respect their opinions.

Alken

*I don't claim to have personal knowledge here, but both are actively involved in the campaign to prevent the Heath Project carrying on with the fencing, etc, so I feel pretty safe saying this.