<< Our Photo Pages >> Merrivale Second Menhir and Cairn - Standing Stone (Menhir) in England in Devon
Submitted by Anne T on Tuesday, 09 July 2019 Page Views: 585
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Merrivale Second Menhir and Cairn Alternative Name: Grinsell Walkhampton 6; Turner F19Country: England County: Devon Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Nearest Town: Tavistock Nearest Village: Princetown
Map Ref: SX55377459
Latitude: 50.553129N Longitude: 4.042983W
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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Catrinm visited on 28th Sep 2020 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
Anne T visited on 14th May 2019 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Merrivale Second Menhir, pit and cairn: All these monuments were so close together, it was a bit mind-boggling. I made sure I wrote down the monuments and the photo numbers so I didn't mix them up when I processed the photos later (the wind was still gusting strongly so we didn't get my folder with pre-printed notes out in case they blew away).
As a group, we were fascinating with all the pits around here and spent some time exploring them and taking grid references. Dave P later contacted me to tell me these had been documented by Butler in his Volume 3 of "Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities".
markj99 visited on 28th Nov 2017 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 3 I wasn't sure if the recumbent stone was part of an alignment with the standing stone or part of the ruined cairn.
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3 Ambience: 4 Access: 3.67
Just to the south east of the tall standing stone lie a recumbent stone slab with an adjacent pit, plus a cairn. These monuments are recorded as part of Pastscape Monument No. 440047 and scheduled as part of Historic England List ID 1013430.
The granite pillar, the second stone or menhir, lies at SX 5537 7459, "beside an 0.3m deep pit which may be its original socket hole. This granite pillar measures 2.2m long up to 0.4m wide and at least 0.3m thick".
The cairn is located at SX 5536 7459. Pastscape tells us the cairn has been heavily damaged, measuring 3.0m across and up to 0.3m high.
Historic England tells us the cairn lies 5.5m to the east of the tall, standing menhir; the granite pillar is 2m to the east of the cairn.
Butler, in volume 3 of “Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities” (p28) says: “There is no evidence that the smaller pillar, 2m long, lying a few metres away (from the menhir) ever stood upright, but it was erected in 1895 in the pit alongside, toppling again a few years later. Between these two stones, cairn C6 (3.0 x 0.3m) has a central pit. Three stones, one fo them flat and well away from the edge, may be the remains of an outer ring, but if so are eccentrically placed”.
The cairn is also featured on the Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks (PDW) website - see their entry for the Merivale (S) Encircled Cairn, which adds: "The cairn at SX 5536 7459, now turf-covered with an excavation pit in the centre, has a diameter of 2.4m. and a height of 0.1m ... A very irregular "circle" of stones can be seen around this cairn".
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
10m W 268° Merrivale Menhir* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX55367459)
15m WSW 252° Merrivale row 4* Stone Row / Alignment (SX5535674586)
21m W 274° Merrivale 5* Stone Row / Alignment (SX5534974592)
26m W 268° Merrivale 6* Stone Row / Alignment (SX5534474590)
45m NNW 332° Merrivale circle* Stone Circle (SX55357463)
130m NW 326° Cairn south of Stone Row B (Merrivale)* Cairn (SX553747)
136m NE 34° Merrivale Stone Slabs 1 and 2* Stone Row / Alignment (SX55457470)
173m N 6° Merrivale SW row 3* Stone Row / Alignment (SX5539474761)
175m NNW 335° Merrivale NW* Stone Circle (SX55307475)
182m N 8° Merrivale Centre S* Cairn (SX55407477)
190m NNE 17° Merrivale Centre N* Cairn (SX55437477)
209m NNE 33° Merrivale Cists* Burial Chamber or Dolmen (SX5549074762)
211m NNE 30° Merrivale* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX55487477)
215m NNE 20° Merrivale North Row* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX55457479)
255m NNW 349° Merrivale N circle* Stone Circle (SX5532674841)
268m NE 43° Merrivale Centre Row* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX55567478)
278m NE 36° Merrivale NE circle* Stone Circle (SX55547481)
429m NNE 23° Merrivale settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX5555174979)
856m SSE 156° King's Tor* Rock Outcrop (SX557738)
986m E 96° Yellowmeade Farm* Cairn (SX56357446)
1.1km WSW 258° Vixen Tor* Cist (SX5424074392)
2.0km W 259° Windy Post Cross* Ancient Cross (SX53437428)
2.0km W 268° Barn Hill Cairn (SX53337458)
2.1km NE 47° Mis Tor Farm Cairn (SX56927594)
2.2km SE 140° Walkhampton Enclosed Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX56747286)
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