<< Our Photo Pages >> The Heath Stone - Standing Stone (Menhir) in England in Devon
Submitted by thecaptain on Friday, 28 July 2006 Page Views: 7291
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: The Heath StoneCountry: England County: Devon Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Nearest Town: Chagford Nearest Village: Corndon
Map Ref: SX6712083750
Latitude: 50.638251N Longitude: 3.880496W
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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There seems to be some doubt as to whether it is an ancient menhir, or a more recent (just a thousand or so years old) guidestone for a track across the moor. The stone is mentioned in ancient writings dating back to the 13th century, but the stone now known as The Heath Stone is not thought to be the original Heath Stone.
It stands about 1.2 metres tall, at the junction of two ancient Reaves, less than 50 metres from the road. It has a biblical inscription cut into its southeast face, which was believed to have been done in about 1970.
The position of this stone, low down relative to the rest of the moor, would render it useless as a guide stone referred to in the ancient writings, but which somehow perhaps makes it a better candidate as a menhir.
Update October 2019: This standing stone is featured on the Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks (PDW) website - see their entries for the Heath Stone Standing Stone and the Hurston Ridge Double Stone Row. PDW's notes tell us: "The original Heath Stone was a boundary stone which was referred to in the Perambulation of the Forest of Dartmoor in 1240 and some very early maps. According to Butler (Vol. 2 Map 25 p.32) the stone carved with a biblical inscription in 1970 that is currently known as the Heath Stone is unlikely to have been the original Heath Stone as it is in a useless position to be of any use as a boundary stone. The stone was not included in maps from the 18th century and then reappeared in a different location. It is doubtful that the current stone is the original or that it is prehistoric. Crossing suggests that the large standing stone in the Hurston Ridge stone row is the actual Heath Stone".
The stone is also recorded as Pastscape Monument No. 443838, which classifies this as a Bronze Age standing stone, and as MDV6650 (Heath Stone 260 metres south-west of Metherall) on the Devon and Dartmoor HER. Whilst the stone is shown on the Historic England map, there is no listing or scheduling information for this stone.
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
389m NW 311° Metherall Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX66838401)
587m W 261° East Lowton settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX6653783668)
696m NW 326° Thornworthy Cairn* Cairn (SX6674284335)
802m NE 35° Yardworthy* Stone Row / Alignment (SX6760184393)
889m WSW 245° Lowton Brook West Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX663834)
1.1km SSE 153° Chagford Common Cairn* Cairn (SX6757182800)
1.2km S 169° Hurston Ridge Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX67338253)
1.3km S 170° Hurston Ridge* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX67308251)
1.4km NNW 340° Thornworthy Down Stone Row / Alignment (SX66688505)
1.5km SW 221° Assycombe Hill* Cairn (SX66108264)
1.6km SW 221° Assycombe* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX66058260)
1.6km W 280° Fernworthy Cairn E* Cairn (SX65568407)
1.6km W 278° Fernworthy Cairn 4* Cairn (SX65518403)
1.7km W 280° Fernworthy stone row SE* Stone Row / Alignment (SX65498407)
1.7km W 280° Fernworthy Cairn SE* Cairn (SX65498409)
1.7km W 281° Fernworthy* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX65488410)
1.7km W 281° Fernworthy stone row SW* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX6547984105)
1.7km W 281° Fernworthy circle* Stone Circle (SX65488411)
1.7km WNW 289° Fernworthy Cairn N* Cairn (SX65548433)
1.7km W 281° Fernworthy Cairn SW* Cairn (SX65478410)
1.7km WNW 289° Fernworthy stone row N* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX6553884336)
2.0km NNW 328° Thornworthy Corner North Cist (SX66118546)
2.0km NW 324° Shovel Down row 7* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX660854)
2.0km NNW 326° Three Boys* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX66038548)
2.1km SE 138° Bush Down Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX6849282173)
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Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
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