<< Our Photo Pages >> Piles Hill NE - Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue in England in Devon
Submitted by TheCaptain on Thursday, 01 July 2004 Page Views: 8771
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Piles Hill NECountry: England County: Devon Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue
Nearest Town: Ivybridge Nearest Village: Harford / Didworthy
Map Ref: SX65886111 Landranger Map Number: 202
Latitude: 50.434477N Longitude: 3.889869W
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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I have visited· I would like to visit
SandyG visited on 9th Mar 2013 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 3 Car parking location is available at SX 64342 59548. From here head east to the Two Moors Way at SX 65765 59965. Then follow the track north to SX 65388 61077 where it crosses the row.
TheCaptain have visited here
What enormous fun this monument is! Originally created of massive stones, especially for Dartmoor, most are now fallen and buried under the ground, leaving just their tops showing or a bump in the ground. I had a grand time trying to find the stones and follow the lines they made, even in the rain.
The monument basically consists of an avenue of large stones, almost a kilometre in length running in an east to west direction over the top of the ridge of Piles Hill. The stones are generally between 1 and 2 metres in length, with many more than 2 metres. The two rows vary in their distance apart, between 15 and 20 metres, and the stone spacing about 5 or 6 metres in each row. The avenue is not straight, and curves northwards towards both ends as they progress down the hillsides. The stones are few and far between at the top of the hill, but become much more regular away from the top. No doubt many of the stones at the top were used in the construction of the tramway. From the top of the ridge, the rows can be followed down the hillside. I started by going down to the west following the bumps in the ground which are the stones of the south row. In places 4 or 5 stones can be seen at a time, which makes following the row easier. The avenue comes to a proper end, with a very large slab marking the end of the south row. The northern row ends with a large still standing slab, 2 metres long with a pointed top, arranged across the row in the manner of a blocking stone. It also has a neighbour. While here, a fantastic double rainbow appeared at the top of the hill, forming an arc right over the top of this stone. I tried to get a good photograph of this, but the eye is much better than the camera at making changes in brightness out, and the rainbow does not appear much at all in my pictures.
Following the northern row back up the hillside is more difficult than following the southern row, as it has much fewer remaining stones. In fact, trying to follow the northern row over the top of the ridge became an impossibility, and I went back to the southern row, and then followed this over the ridge and down the eastern side of the hill. The southern row is fairly easy to follow down the hill, and after a while, it seems that most of the stones can still be made out. Progressing down the hill, the northern row makes an appearance again, and is also fairly complete towards the bottom of the avenue, which is much narrower down this end. Once more, the row seems to come to a complete end, with a strange arrangement of earthworks and large stones placed across the row, including a large blocking stone 2.5 metres in length which is in the middle between the two rows.
Trying to imagine this monument in its complete state, it would have been magnificent. Compared to the usual small Dartmoor rows, with their tiny stones and avenues no wider than a single person, this would have been awesome, and it would have almost rivalled the avenues at Avebury. Unfortunately, when in the 19th century many rows and circles on the moor were re-erected, this monster somehow missed out.
Getting decent pictures was not an easy task, especially as I do not profess to be a proper photographer, but just take pictures. I challenge any of you photographers out there to get nice pictures of this avenue which show the size and scale of things.
Update August 2019: This stone row is featured on The Stone Rows of Great Britain website - see their entry for Piles Hill, which includes photographs, a plan of the row showing the location of the associated cairns, a description and additional sources of information. The SRoGB also includes a section for Landscape Comments, which illustrates the landscape features which come into (and out of) view as you progress along the row. They add: "The Piles Hill stone row as well as being the only avenue on Dartmoor is unusual in that was built over the top of a hill … the view from either end of the row is radically different".
Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks also includes two entries for this row: Piles Hill Stone Row and Piles Hill Double Stone Row and Cairns.
Further information can also be found on Pastscape Monument No. 442017 and on the Devon & Dartmoor HER: MDV5662 Stone alignment on Piles Hill. The row is scheduled as Historic England List Entry No. 1013033 (Stone alignment on Piles Hill).
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378m SE 143° Glasscombe Ball NE* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX6610060802)
440m SSE 161° Glasscombe Corner Stone Row* Stone Row / Alignment (SX6601660691)
482m SSE 163° Glasscombe Corner SW Terminal Cairn* Cairn (SX6601060646)
502m ENE 71° Upper Glazebrook* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX66366126)
582m SW 229° The Longstone (Piles Hill)* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX65436074)
615m WSW 249° Piles Hill Cairns* Cairn (SX653609)
644m S 187° Glasscombe Ball North (North Cairn)* Cairn (SX6578360473)
696m S 191° Glasscombe Ball North* Stone Row / Alignment (SX6573360429)
716m S 191° Glasscombe Ball North (South Cairn)* Cairn (SX65736041)
727m E 84° Corringdon Ball* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX6660761169)
735m E 81° Corringdon Ball N.* Stone Row / Alignment (SX66616121)
739m SSW 209° Hobajons Cross* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX65516047)
751m ENE 78° Corringdon Ball Cairns* Cairn (SX66626125)
763m E 82° Corringdon Ball Central* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX66646120)
790m E 81° Corringdon Ball Multiple Cairn Circle* Cairn (SX6666561215)
804m E 81° Corringdon Ball S.E.* Stone Circle (SX6667961215)
807m E 82° Corringdon Ball South* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX6668461205)
828m W 269° Piles Hill W* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX65056111)
871m SE 133° Lower Glasscombe* Cist (SX6650660502)
948m SSW 200° Butterdon Hill Row* Stone Row / Alignment (SX6553960225)
984m ENE 75° Brent Fore Hill* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX66846134)
1.0km ENE 74° Brent Forehill Encircled Cairn* Cairn (SX6685461356)
1.1km ENE 78° Corringdon Ball Tomb* Chambered Tomb (SX6694561308)
1.1km E 101° Corringdon Ball settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX66956088)
1.1km NW 306° Sharp Tor cairn* Cairn (SX65006179)
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