Stall Moor Stone Circle

Gladman poses the question as to whether this is the most remote of all stone circles, even more so than its northerly counterpart White Moor. I made the trek to the latter 12 years ago and was inspired to write my first (self-congratulatory) fieldnote. Amongst the responses was one from The Sweetcheat suggesting Stall Moor as my next serious quest and four years ago I finally got round to making the attempt. Alas my companion at the time was in the process of recovery from Long Covid so had run out of puff by the time we’d made it to Stalldown stone row so continuing on to the circle was out of the question.
I’d been promising myself another go ever since and it finally came about yesterday with my daughter and her partner volunteering to accompany me on the expectedly lengthy but massively worthwhile expedition. The notes about suggested walks on The Cornwood Inn website indicated that parking between the village and the gate to the water treatment plant was a no-no; four years ago I’d been able to park the other side of the gate but this time I didn’t want to risk driving up there and finding it padlocked (as it was) so we parked in the village and walked the lanes which added a good couple of miles to what turned out to be at least 3/3 and a half from the gate to the circle.
That bit was relatively easy, a gravel path following the river all the way to the weir then picking our way steadily uphill until with the aid of my trusty binoculars I spotted what had to be the circle on the horizon to the north. We crossed the Bledge Brook and trudged through the tussocky grass, giving a Dartmoor pony and her foal a decently wide berth, and there it was.
OK, it’s not the prettiest of circles and bar one the stones are on the small side but for its setting with a tremendous sightline all the way down the Erme Valley it’s second to none. The Sweetcheat says it better than I can in his fieldnote; its very remoteness and the majesty of the surrounding landscape give it a presence that belies its appearance. Yes, the sense of achievement in getting to it – I still can’t decide if it’s technically more remote than White Moor but there can’t be much in it – undoubtedly amplified the exhilaration I experienced in my final few steps. To think it’s been here for 4.000 years, largely undisturbed and unvisited for probably at least three quarters of that timespan.........it’s a special place and I feel privileged to have briefly intruded on its solitude. A big thankyou to my distinguished TMA forerunners for pointing me in its direction.