<< Our Photo Pages >> Cut Hill Stone Row - Stone Row / Alignment in England in Devon
Submitted by Andy B on Sunday, 11 April 2010 Page Views: 15590
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Cut Hill Stone RowCountry: England County: Devon Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Nearest Town: Okehampton Nearest Village: Frenchbeer / Willsworthy
Map Ref: SX59928275
Latitude: 50.627576N Longitude: 3.981874W
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
graemefield TheCaptain would like to visit
SandyG visited on 6th May 2018 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 5 Access: 1 This is not an easy row to get to. It lies within the Okehampton Range and it is only possible to visit when live firing is not taking place. Details of firing times are available online. Access is difficult which ever direction it is approached from. After much thought, I decided that the south looked best. Car parking is available at Postbridge (SX 64667 78839). From here take the footpath leading north to SX 63444 79743. From here continue following the path to SX 62823 80230 and then along the western side of the East Dart River to SX 60837 82087. Follow the line of poles that separate the Okehampton and Merrivale Ranges to SX 59748 82645 then walk north to the row which is at the top of the hill. Allow a whole day and make sure you have map. My journey was eventful. At one point three sky larks attacked a cuckoo, another sky lark collided with me when being chased by a kestrel which then hovered for a few seconds within arms reach, in the middle of nowhere a group of people were partaking in what looked like a delicious cream tea and I was joined for part of the journey by a couple who made the final ascent pass without the expected pain.
Andy B have visited here
The stone row, aligned 52º/232º (approximately NE/SW), is situated on the top of Cut Hill (SX 59928275) within an area of extensive but partially eroding blanket peat. It consists of six large slabs of granite all lying flat in the same orientarion (approximately ESE/WNW). Five of the slabs are visible within a 100m strip of ground where the peat has eroded by either natural or human agency, and appear to be on a prehistoric land surface about 1.4m lower than the present top surface of the peat. They are spaced between 19m and 29.5m apart, and so regular in line and proportion that they give the impression of railway sleepers. From the south-west end the stones have the following maximum dimensions (in metres) in plan: 2.3 x 0.9; 2.4 x 0.8: 1.85 x 0.7; 1.9 x 1.2; 2.6 x 0.7; 2.1 x 1.05. Each stone appears to be approximately 0.20m thick. In other words, they are all carefully chosen slab-like stones, which, if upright, would have their thinnest profile visible when looking along the axis of the row.
The recorded length of the row formed by the six stones is 123m. A seventh probable stone lies 34.5m further north-east, almost entirely buried bv peat, and with only 0.8 x 0.5m of its surface visible. Preliminary probing suggests thax it is 1.15m wide and at least 1.7m long. Its visible long side is orientated SE/NW. The most south-westerly stone has what appear to be small packing stones still in situ at its north-west end. One of these is visible on its south side, and six are visible close together on the north side. The largest of these packing stones is about 0.40m long.
The row is tangential to a ditched barrow on the very highest point of Cut Hill, 58m WSW of the most south-westerly stone of the row. A projected line of the row would pass within about 22m of the centre of the barrow. The barrow itself consists of a superficially almost stone-free mound some 14m in diameter and about 1.5m in height. Beyond the mound there are suggestions of a berm about 1.5m wide, and then a surrounding ditch about 2m wide, defined by an outer ring bank also up to about 2m wide. Not all these elements are distinct all the way round the barrow. The waterlogged ditch is a particularly unusual feature to be visible on a Dartmoor barrow.
The discovery radically alters the perception of prehistoric presence on Dartmoor. Within a 3 km radius of the hill, virtually no prehistoric structures had previously been identified. The large cairn known as Quintin’s Man can be seen 2.6 km to the north-east; the standing stone known as Beardown Man is 3.2 km almost due south; the large settlement at Watern Oke is 3.3 km to the west; and a small settlement on the west bank of the West Dart River is some 2.6 km to the south-south-east.
Source: Prehistoric Society Newsletter
Update September 2019: For more information also refer to:
Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks (PDW): the Cut Hill Stone Row;
Pastscape: Monument No. 1405946;
Devon and Dartmoor HER: MDV69604 (Cut Hill Stone Row, Lydford); and
The Stone Rows of Great Britain: Cut Hill, which includes a description, photographs of the alignment and the individual stones, a plan of the row with its associated cairns and Access information.
SRoGB notes that "this is not and easy row to get to. It lies within the Okehampton Range and it is only possible to visit when live firing is not taking place". They also state "this is the only (stone) row in Britain with a recognised date".
Note: Dartmoor megaliths linked to death rites
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97m W 266° Cut Hill Cairn* Cairn (SX5982382745)
2.4km ENE 61° Quintins Man Cairn (SX62098386)
3.1km E 87° Sittaford Stone Circle* Stone Circle (SX63018281)
3.1km S 184° Beardown Man* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX59617963)
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4.0km E 83° Grey Wethers.* Stone Circle (SX63878313)
4.0km SSW 198° Conies Down* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX5857378988)
4.0km SW 235° Limsboro Cairn (SX5656780550)
4.1km E 87° Sittaford Tor pound* Misc. Earthwork (SX64018288)
4.1km E 91° Sittaford Marsh Hut Circles* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX6402982560)
4.1km S 170° Crow Tor* Cairn (SX6052478663)
4.1km E 87° South Teignhead* Cairn (SX64088284)
4.2km ESE 106° Lade Hill Brook Beehive Hut* Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry (SX63938145)
4.2km E 90° White Ridge Standing Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX6416282653)
4.2km E 90° White Ridge pound* Ring Cairn (SX6416882656)
4.4km ESE 103° White Ridge SW cairn* Round Cairn (SX64158162)
4.4km E 101° White Ridge SW settlements* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX64258181)
4.6km ESE 123° Broadun Ring* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX6369980178)
4.6km SE 126° Broadun Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX6354179928)
4.6km SW 221° White Barrow (Cocks Hill) Cairn (SX568793)
4.7km S 174° Beardown Cairn and Cist* Cist (SX60317808)
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