Hillson’s House

Nearest town:
Rattery (9km E)
OS reference:
SX638623
OS sheet:
202
Latitude:
50° 26' 38.7 N
Longitude:
3° 55' 6.36 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Hillson’s House (Cairn(s)) by Mr Hamhead

Hillsons House...built from the stones of the main cairn on Stalldown, the wall nearest the camera is a modern addition as Crossing only mentions three walls when he visited in the late 1800s.

Mr Hamhead
Mr Hamhead May 4, 2009
Image of Hillson’s House (Cairn(s)) by Lubin

This is one of the much modified cairns in this area, this one being more modified than others in that it once had a house on it , the cairn being 20 metres in diameter. Legend has it that the house was lived in by a clock maker although some say he was more likely to have been a peat cutter.

Image credit: Peter Castle. ©
Lubin
Lubin May 6, 2007

Articles

Hillson’s House

S
stewartb Apr 5, 2003

This site is here mainly because it’s a good sighting point on the way to Stalldown stone row. However, there is a second reason in that I have a good friend named Hillson who’s family is from this part of the Dartmoor.

If anyone has any information on how this site got its name, we’d be very glad to receive it.

Folklore

Hillson’s House
Cairn(s)
Mr Hamhead
Mr Hamhead May 4, 2009

Crossing writes in his Guide to Dartmoor that the cairn got its name after a baby was found on Stall Moor and adopted by local people. He was given the name Hillson and after a while moved up onto the hill and built himself a house amongst the stones of the cairn. Here he made a living making clocks...out of what it doesn’t say, but it does say that a Mr Hillson who lived in Cornwood in the mid 1800s had one of these clocks.

Sites within 20km of Hillson’s House

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