It's definitely the domain of the pixies round here. According to Jack Hurley in his 1973 'Legends of Exmoor' "it was to Withypool farms that pixies came to thresh the corn at night. At one farm, curious womenfolk peeped through a hole in the barn door and saw the pixies busy threshing... in their birthday suits. So to show gratitude for the services of the little folk, the women made clothes for them and left the gifts in the barn. The pixies took this as an insult, and they never came again." Sounds very much like the attitude of the more northern hobgoblin. I don't think pixies (or hobgoblins) are usually seen without their kit on. Perhaps they left because they were embarrassed.
[SS 83833430] Stone Circle (NR) A stone circle (diam 40 yds) on the SW slope of Withypoole Hill, 733 yds ESE of Portford Bridge. Remains consist of 37 stones (3) (but formerly there were c.100) 3.5 ft apart. (see plan) (2 & 3)
The remains consist of 29 earthfast stones set as the circumference of a true circle. The largest stone is 0.7m long by 0.2m thick and stands 0.5m above the ground but the majority of the others are considerably smaller. There is no trace of a bank, ditch, or any other feature associated with the stones. Surveyed at 1:2500. (4)SS 837342. Stone Circle, Withypoole Hill. Scheduled. (5)
SS 83833430. The remains of a stone circle, 36m in diameter are located on a moderate SW facing slope at about 385m OD on the SW side of Withypool Hill. The area, predominantly heather, has been recently swaled so the stones were clearly visible. (see plan at 1:100). It was first described by St George Gray in 1906. Thirty-seven stones out of a possible original total of about one hundred, were planned. Twenty-nine were recorded in 1965 and again in 1978. In 1989 twenty-seven earthfast uprights and three fallen stones were identified by RCHME. Stone 20a may simply be a residual packing stone. The majority of the uprights are about 0.1m high, 0.3m wide and 0.1m thick, with some very small exceptions; stone 26, for example, measures only 0.01m high, 0.17m wide and 0.02 m thick. Only four are reasonably large 2,12,15 and 24 and are about 0.5m high, 0.6m wide and 0.2m thick.
The RCHME plan follows the numbering on the 1906 survey, thus indicating former stones, such as 16 and 17, which are now lost.
On the early plan, two unnumbered hollows were shown at 2a and 31a; they are no longer visible (10).
SS 83823431. The remains of a stone circle standing on the south west slope of Withypool Hill. It is alleged that the circle once consisted of about 100 stones, but it now consists of around 25 upright stones and several fallen ones which remain close to their original positions. The stones average 0.5 metres high, 0.4 metres wide and 0.2 metres thick. The overall diameter of the circle is approximately 36 metres with a circumference of about 115 metres. Scheduled. (11)
Considering their dimensions it is perhaps unsurprising that the stones of the Withypool Hill stone circle are not visible on aerial photographs. However, the site can be easily seen on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards due to the footpath encircling the site and hollows around several of the stones, eroded by visitors to the site and livestock using the stone settings as rubbing posts. Hints of shadows within these hollows may be cast by the larger stones or simply the hollows indicating their former locations. The eroded path is up to 40 metres in diameter and over 120 metres in circumference. (12-14)
A stone circle is unusual for Somerset - but it's very inconspicuous! The circle is almost 37 metres in diameter, with thirty stones, but most are only 10cm high (the tallest being 60cm). A plan of the site was drawn in 1898 showing 37 stones, but it's possible there were 100 originally.
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Posted by Rhiannon
Posted by Chance
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