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<< Our Photo Pages >> Merrivale circle - Stone Circle in England in Devon

Submitted by Anonymous on Monday, 01 November 2004  Page Views: 14200

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Merrivale circle Alternative Name: Turner G14
Country: England County: Devon Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Tavistock  Nearest Village: Princetown
Map Ref: SX55357463  Landranger Map Number: 191
Latitude: 50.553484N  Longitude: 4.043281W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Catrinm visited on 21st Dec 2022 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4 Visited for the winter solstice sunset 22. Not a clear sky but still atmospheric .

lauraaurora visited on 6th Aug 2022 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4

lucasn visited on 27th Jun 2019 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

Anne T visited on 14th May 2019 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 4 Merrivale Stone Circle: Will you forgive me for saying I wasn't hugely impressed by this stone circle. For some reason I was expecting the stones to be larger and for it to sit more dramatically in the landscape. On walking to the circle from the western end of Row 2, we came across an impressively large, black coloured boulder buried in the grass, which does not appear to be marked by Butler. I estimated its grid reference to be SX 55304 74704, or just south of this. The group walked round the circle and the menhir, looking at the pits in the ground, wondering if these could possibly be the remains of holes for other stones. Dave Parks said he had read somewhere that there was thought to have been a double stone circle here, but no proof had yet been found. He later came back to tell me that Butler has marked the pits on his diagrams of Merrivale, see pages 29-31 inclusive of Volume 3 of "Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities". I do like Butler's description of the circle: "Their arrangement is markedly eccentric, perhaps deliberately so, with the majority of stones up to a metre off a true circle 19m across and with very variable intervals between" and his notes that the numbers of stones seem to vary across the ages: "several detailed nineteenth century accounts of the site show that the number of stones has actually increased, a most unusual phenomenon, from 9 in the early part of the century, 9 in 1828 (Smith), 10 (1827, Rowe, 1829 Kempe), and 9 (1859 Wilkinson), before reaching the present total of 11 in Worth’s 1895 plan. It seems at least 2 stones have been added, probably by some of the early investigators who were not always particular in recording their restorations, which in any case were often somewhat arbitrary".

Richard13 visited on 1st Jul 2018 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

markj99 visited on 28th Nov 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 3 Merrivale Stone Circle is not spectacular. The stones are small, but it is surrounded by more substantial antiquarian sites.

SandyG visited on 19th Oct 2014 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4

BolshieBoris visited on 1st Jul 1997 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 4

woodini254 visited on 15th Mar 1994 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4

graemefield visited on 1st May 1992 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 3

h_fenton rldixon cazzyjane AngieLake TheWhiteRider davidmorgan TheCaptain have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.7 Ambience: 4.2 Access: 3.8

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by AngieLake : Merrivale Circle and menhir looking south towards King's Tor, at about 6.15pm on 10.10.07 (Vote or comment on this photo)
An eleven-stone circle is a member of a group of several prehistoric structures: two stone circles, an avenue, a double row, a single row, a large damaged cist, standing stones and hut-circles.

The stones are small, varying in height from 30cm (1 foot) to 50cm (1 foot 6 inches). It is a flattened circle measuring 20.5m (67 feet 5 inches) E-W by 17.8m (58 feet 5 inches). A 3m (10-foot 4-inch) tall slender stone stands at an azimuth of 182 degrees from the centre of the circle, suggesting an attempt for cardinal-point alignment. The axis of the ring is 88 degrees - 268 degrees, a similar suggested alignment.

Access: Just south of the B3357 cross-Dartmoor road, 6km from Tavistock. The circle is a few hundred metres on from the Merrivale stone rows.

Update November 2019: This stone circle is recorded as Pastscape Monument No. 440044, as MDV4998 (Stone circle, Merrivale) on the Devon and Dartmoor HER, and scheduled as Historic England List Entry No. 1013430 (A stone circle, standing stone, cairn, recumbent stone and stone alignment on Longash Common).

This circle is also featured on the Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks (PDW) website - see their entries for Merrivale Stone Circle and the Merrivale Ceremonial Complex [Photo Set 2].

The Pastcape record lists the grid references and types of all 12 of the stones (the 11 in the circle plus the outlier).
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Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by h_fenton : Merrivale Circle, A Kite Aerial Photograph. 7 April 2010 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by graemefield : Merrivale Stone Circle on a misty morning in May 1992 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by rldixon : merrivale circle taken 2008 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by AngieLake : Merrivale circle, taken around 5.15pm on 26th March 2012. L to R in background: Middle Staple Tor, Great Staple Tor and Roos Tor. (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by cazzyjane : Merrivale Menhir and stone circle together (Vote or comment on this photo)

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by cazzyjane : July 09

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by cazzyjane

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by TheWhiteRider : Part of the circle and standing stone viewed from within the circle.

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by bec-zog : Merrivale stone circle and Menhir on the right

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Antonine : 2008

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Antonine

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Antonine

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Bladup : Merrivale Stone Circle at Midwinter

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Bladup : Merrivale Stone Circle and Outlier

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Bladup : Merrivale Stone Circle and Menhir

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Bladup : Merrivale Stone Circle with King's Tor in the background

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Bladup : Merrivale Stone Circle

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Bladup

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Bladup

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Bladup

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by lucasn

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Anne T : A rather odd view of the stone circle from just east of the outlying stone, looking west. The black piece at the bottom left is because I hadn't lined the photographs up very well to stitch them.

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Anne T : A close up of the top of the boulder embedded into the turf to the north of the stone circle at about SX 55304 74704. From this boulder, looking towards the menhirs to the south, the view goes almost directly through the middle of the stone circle. Probably not of any relevance, but worth mentioning? (2 comments)

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Anne T : The eastern side of the stone circle showing the small outlier which lies 8m to the east. Our group were fascinated by the pits around the circle and the menhir. Pastscape tells us: "The outlying stone to the east of the circle and ... two 0.3 metre deep pits survive in situ. It is not clear whether these features represent the remains of a second, concentric, stone circle".

Merrivale circle
Merrivale circle submitted by Anne T : Walking south towards the stone circle from the western end of Merrivale 2/B stone row, I came across this large, dark coloured boulder in the grass. I estimated it grid reference to be SX 55304 74704. This photo looks directly over the boulder, over the stone circle, to the menhirs beyond.

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Stone Pages (Still Images) by Arosio and Meozzi
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 38m S 180° Merrivale 5* Stone Row / Alignment (SX5534974592)
 40m S 187° Merrivale 6* Stone Row / Alignment (SX5534474590)
 41m SSE 164° Merrivale Menhir* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX55367459)
 44m S 171° Merrivale row 4* Stone Row / Alignment (SX5535674586)
 45m SSE 152° Merrivale Second Menhir and Cairn* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX55377459)
 86m NW 323° Cairn south of Stone Row B (Merrivale)* Cairn (SX553747)
 122m NE 53° Merrivale Stone Slabs 1 and 2* Stone Row / Alignment (SX55457470)
 130m NNW 336° Merrivale NW* Stone Circle (SX55307475)
 138m NNE 17° Merrivale SW row 3* Stone Row / Alignment (SX5539474761)
 149m NNE 18° Merrivale Centre S* Cairn (SX55407477)
 161m NNE 28° Merrivale Centre N* Cairn (SX55437477)
 188m NNE 30° Merrivale North Row* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX55457479)
 191m NE 41° Merrivale* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX55487477)
 192m NE 45° Merrivale Cists* Burial Chamber or Dolmen (SX5549074762)
 212m N 352° Merrivale N circle* Stone Circle (SX5532674841)
 258m NE 53° Merrivale Centre Row* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX55567478)
 261m NE 45° Merrivale NE circle* Stone Circle (SX55547481)
 402m NNE 28° Merrivale settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX5555174979)
 900m SSE 156° King's Tor* Rock Outcrop (SX557738)
 1.0km E 98° Yellowmeade Farm* Cairn (SX56357446)
 1.1km WSW 256° Vixen Tor* Cist (SX5424074392)
 1.9km WSW 258° Windy Post Cross* Ancient Cross (SX53437428)
 2.0km W 267° Barn Hill Cairn (SX53337458)
 2.0km NE 49° Mis Tor Farm Cairn (SX56927594)
 2.2km NNW 330° Roos Tor Rocks* Rock Outcrop (SX543766)
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Stone Pages (Still Images) by Arosio and Meozzi
Megalithic Mysteries by Andy Burnham

Archived Web links for Merrivale circle

Myths and Megaliths by Jim Dyson
Prehistoric Circles and Rows by Ian Honeywood

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"Merrivale circle" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
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Re: Merrivale by Anonymous on Monday, 04 October 2004
From JACKME. The Equinox is not on the 21st as you have rightly deduced because the Earth is on a tilt, making the effective dates March 19th and Sept 23-4. At this time of the year the Sun is in exactly the same place as it was at the time these rows were built.
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Re: Merrivale by AngieLake on Wednesday, 22 September 2004
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I went to Merrivale on Dartmoor this evening (21st September 2004) to film the sunset on the day before Autumn Equinox. As the stone rows at Merrivale are aligned East/West, I thought that they would align with the setting sun. This proved to be correct at about 6.30pm, before it had gone down completely - the shadows cast jutting directly east in line with the eastern ends of the rows. (The sun kept popping in and out of cloud). The cloud cleared enough to have a good view as it sunk into the western hills, and it was slightly to the north of west, when viewed from the twin tall stones at the west end of the southern row. Tomorrow, when it may be too cloudy to see anything, I would guess that sun and rows will align at sunset. Right after the sun had disappeared over the horizon, I walked down the slope to look at any effects on the menhir that stands south of the circle, which lay directly south of the two taller stones* at the west end of the southern row. *(these taller stones aren't visible from the menhir or the circle). As I walked through the circle, I noticed that the flat topped stone at the southern side of the circle (just to the right of centre in the picture at the top of this page) actually aligned both with the menhir AND with the half-moon, which was D-shaped. (waning?, or waxing? - not very good at moon things!) I wonder how often this would occur at equinox, and whether this is an intentional feature of the layout? - Maybe as a signal to continue any ceremonies they might have enacted in that area? Interesting... By the way, the sky was beautiful after sunset: soft pinks and lovely duck-egg blue, with whispy feathers of white cloud. If the photos come out, I'll post them here sometime! (I also filmed everything on my camcorder). Unbelivably, I was the only one there, from 6pm to 7.30pm!
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