Prehistoric stone hunt under way in Devon salt marsh
A team of archaeologists is braving horse flies, spiky vegetation and murky ditches to hunt for mysterious standing stones lost beneath a West Country salt marsh... continues...
"A Stone age knife, a Bronze age arrow head and a Roman nail are just some of the surprises uncovered by a new archaeological dig in Devon... continues...
William Stukeley: Saviour of Stonehenge exhibition opens in Devon
William Stukeley, Saviour of Stonehenge exhibition, opens tomorrow (9 June) at Hartland Abbey, Hartland, Bideford, North Devon and runs until 6 October.
"Keen historians are being invited to help a team of Exeter University archaeologists uncover secrets of an ancient Bronze Age and medieval site.Members of the public are invited to the dig to investigate the remains of a medieval building near an old manor house... continues...
A 4,000 year old grave discovered in Chagford in 1879 is returning to Dartmoor.
The prehistoric grave will be relocated to the High Moorland Centre in Princetown early next month from Torquay Museum where it has been for 120 years... continues...
Ramblers have held a mass trespass on one of Dartmoor's most popular landmarks to protest over its closure. Vixen Tor at Merrivale (Cornwall, England) was shut to the public when a new landowner bought it earlier last year... continues...
Volunteers from Tavistock Conservation Project have been helping to restore the setting of an ancient Scheduled Monument on Dartmoor, almost totally obscured by vegetation... continues...
The farmer who closed Dartmoor's (England) Vixen Tor to the public has been charged with carrying out land improvements without an environmental impact assessment. Mary Alford, who owns the site at Merrivale, near Tavistock, Devon, will appear before Plymouth Magistrates in the New Year... continues...
A Devon farmer has realised his dream by building a Bronze Age burial chamber on his land. He transported four huge pieces of granite from Dartmoor to his estate near Ivybridge to carry out the construction... continues...
There is a series of books well worth looking at for the serious antiquarian who is going to visit Dartmoor and look for the many sites there.The books are by Jeremy Butler and are called Dartmoor atlas of Antiquities and come in five volumes.Volumes one to four are the main books dealing with, volume 1, The East. Volume 2 ,The North. Volume 3,The South west and volume 4 The South East.Volume 5 is an over all cover of The Second Millennium B.C. and also contains an index.
All the books contain maps and extensive text along with line drawings and the grid references to all the sites mentioned.
Directions: Take the B213 Ivybridge turn off the A38. If you exit from the E, turn R, cross over the A38 and take the first L on the roundabout signposted for Cornwood. If you exit from the W, take the first L on the roundabout signposted for Cornwood. Follow the Cornwood Road for c. I mile until you reach a mini roundabout. Take the L turn onto a narrow lane for Cornwood. Stay on this road for c. 2.5 miles until you reach the Cornwood Inn at a crossroads in Cornwood. Take the R turn for Torr/Harford onto a lane. After 0.25 miles stay straight on the lane. After another c. 0.5 miles stay straight. After another 0.25 miles turn L up an un-signposted lane and bear R after a sharp corner. Follow this narrow leafy lane for c. 0.25 mile then take the L fork. The road will end c. 0.4 mile later just after Watercombe Farm. Park as close as possible and follow the track for c. 0.5 mile past the water treatment buildings reaching the open moorland of Stalldown Moor. When you are 100 yards clear of the buildings strike N uphill towards Stalldown Stone Row relying on GPS or Map Reading to reach the Southern Cairn 0.4 mile N at SX 63215 61854.
Directions: Take the B213 Ivybridge turn off the A38. If you exit from the E, turn R, cross over the A38 and take the first L on the roundabout signposted for Cornwood. If you exit from the W, take the first L on the roundabout signposted for Cornwood. Follow the Cornwood Road for c. I mile until you reach a mini roundabout. Take the L turn onto a narrow lane for Cornwood. Stay on this road for c. 2.5 miles until you reach the Cornwood Inn at a crossroads in Cornwood. Take the R turn for Torr/Harford onto a lane. After 0.25 miles stay straight on the lane. After another c. 0.5 miles stay straight. After another 0.25 miles turn L up an un-signposted lane and bear R after a sharp corner. Follow this narrow leafy lane for c. 0.25 mile then take the L fork. The road will end c. 0.4 mile later just after Watercombe Farm. Park as close as possible and follow the track for c. 0.5 mile past the water treatment buildings reaching the open moorland of Stalldown Moor. When you are 100 yards clear of the buildings strike N uphill towards Stalldown Stone Row relying on GPS or Map Reading to reach the Southern Terminal 0.5 mile N at SX 63218 62074.
Directions: Take the B213 Ivybridge turn off the A38. If you exit from the E, turn R, cross over the A38 and take the first L on the roundabout signposted for Cornwood. If you exit from the W, take the first L on the roundabout signposted for Cornwood. Follow the Cornwood Road for c. I mile until you reach a mini roundabout. Take the L turn onto a narrow lane for Cornwood. Stay on this road for c. 2.5 miles until you reach the Cornwood Inn at a crossroads in Cornwood. Take the R turn for Torr/Harford onto a lane. After 0.25 miles stay straight on the lane. After another c. 0.5 miles stay straight. After another 0.25 miles turn L up an un-signposted lane and bear R after a sharp corner. Follow this narrow leafy lane for c. 0.25 mile then take the L fork. The road will end c. 0.4 mile later just after Watercombe Farm. Park as close as possible and follow the track for c. 0.5 mile past the water treatment buildings reaching the open moorland of Stalldown Moor. When you are 100 yards clear of the buildings strike N uphill towards Stalldown Stone Row relying on GPS or Map Reading to reach the Southern Terminal 0.5 mile N at SX 63218 62074.
There is a cluster of cairns in or near the Northern third of Stalldown Stone Row. Stalldown cairn circle (listed in TMA) is constructed a few yards to the E of the Stalldown Stone Row axis, a hiatus in the row of standing stones. Around 100 yards NNW in open moorland there is a small grass cairn measuring c. 30 feet across with a 4 feet earth bank. An intermittent perimeter of kerb stones c. 1.5 feet high define the edge of the cairn. There is a shallow hollow in the centre of the cairn suggestive of an excavation. It lies c. 30 yards E of Stalldown Stone Row.
A third cairn, Stalldown Stone Row Cairn NE lies c. 100 yards SE from here, on the E side of the stone row.
The concentration of several sites in a small radius suggests that it was the centre of ritual activities at Stalldown. The inclusion of Stalldown cairn circle into the stone row perhaps indicates that it was the focal point.
Historic England 1015806 (go to Links) has a full description of Stalldown Stone Row and its associated cairns.