<< Our Photo Pages >> Sittaford Stone Circle - Stone Circle in England in Devon

Submitted by davep on Thursday, 30 April 2015  Page Views: 23531

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Sittaford Stone Circle
Country: England County: Devon Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Princetown  Nearest Village: Postbridge
Map Ref: SX63018281
Latitude: 50.628850N  Longitude: 3.938235W
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
 3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 4 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.
 2 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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I have visited· I would like to visit

Catrinm visited on 27th May 2024 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 2 Finally got here

graemefield visited on 3rd Jun 2022 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 2

Reava visited on 13th Mar 2018 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 2

TheCaptain visited on 11th Jun 2014 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 5 Access: 2 With the weather turned nice, I took a day off work to walk out to the newly found Sittaford Tor stone circle, starting out from Fernworthy Reservoir. Having planned the trip in advance, so knowing where to look, the circle was very easy to find, although very wet and boggy. All of the stones have been dug around so they are no longer buried in the mire. Excellent.

davep visited on 24th May 2014 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 2



Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 2.2 Ambience: 4.2 Access: 2

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by burt68 : Kite aerial photo Image copyright: burtskitecam (Paul Burton), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Dave P writes: A new stone circle has been reported on Dartmoor according to the Devon Archaeological Society Newsletter (Jan 2014 No. 117). It was discovered by Alan Endacott in 2007 but I have not seen any public mention of it until now.

The Grey Wethers is close by situated 1km ENE. The newly discovered circle consists of 30 recumbent stones with a diameter of 32m. It is reckoned, assuming these stones were once standing, that it would have had a very similar appearance to the circles in the Grey Wethers. For those with local knowledge the site is almost 2km due North of the waterfall north of Postbridge and about 300m SW of Sittaford Tor.

There were 7 (now 8) stone circles (Grey Wethers being two of them) on the north-eastern perimeter of Dartmoor which appeared to create a crescent or arc shape. remarkably this circle looks like someone continued that arc! I have put them on a map, Sittaford is in Blue. See:

Map of Dartmoor Stone Circles Showing Arc

I have updated my own pages on Dartmoor Stone Circles with this, see: Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks: Guide to Dartmoor Stone Circles.

Update December 2019: Also see Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks (PDW) entry for the Sittaford Stone Circle. There is no entry on Pastscape for this circle, but it is recorded on the Devon and Dartmoor HER; see: MDV110432 (Sittaford Stone Circle, Dartmoor Forest).

Note: "Archaeologists explore newly discovered Dartmoor stone circle." See latest update from Dartmoor National Park here.
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Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by burt68 : Kite aerial photo Image copyright: burtskitecam (Paul Burton), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by theCaptain : With the weather turned nice, I took a day off work to walk out to the newly found Sittaford Tor stone circle. This is a plot from my GPS showing not only the track of my walking around of the circle, but I also created a waypoint for each stone, which are plotted as the little flags. (3 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Bladup : Sunset at Sittaford Stone Circle. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by burt68 : Kite aerial photo Image copyright: burtskitecam (Paul Burton), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by AngieLake : A photo from 1902 of the logan stone on Sittaford Tor that was sadly destroyed by 1956. (See also, the Nutcracker at Rippon Tor, referred to in the above text.) (c) Thought to belong to R. Burnard, and part of the Sayer Collection. From: 'A Dartmoor Century. 1883-1983. A hundred years of the Dartmoor Preservation Association.'

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by caradoc68 : Sittaford standing stone. This stone is the outlier to the Sittaford stone circle, at some time in its life it has had two holes drilled in the North side of the stone. (1 comment)

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by theCaptain : With the weather turned nice, I took a day off work to walk out to the newly found Sittaford Tor stone circle. This is a plot of my route during the day, which shows clearly the Fernworthy and Grey Wethers sites I also visited.

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by davep : Another of the unearthed stones. (1 comment)

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Postman : A stone on the floor is worth a lightly cupped spherical!

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Postman : The northern arc of prostrate slabs

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Postman : 8.51 am 22/9/2020. Equinox day

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Postman : The stone on the left was covered in a thin carpet of mulch, I stripped it away. I wonder if there is a stone in the adjacent cesspit.

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Postman : The rocky Tor stands tomb like on the hill

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Postman : I think I counted 23 stones and 4 stone shaped holes, are they still in there?

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Postman : Sittaford Tor disappears in the fog

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Postman : Looking south east, the standing stone left of picture stands next to a low wall that you follow down off the Tor, other wise you'll struggle to find the stealthiest of stealth circles.

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Postman : Looking north east to Sittaford Tor

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Postman : The east side of the circle

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Bladup : Sittaford Stone Circle and Tor.

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by Bladup : Sittaford Stone Circle.

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by cazzyjane : Sittaford Stone Circle, not far from Grey Wethers.

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by cazzyjane : The holes containing stones at Sittaford Stone circle.

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by cazzyjane : Sittaford Stone Circle, Dartmoor.

Sittaford Stone Circle
Sittaford Stone Circle submitted by burt68 : Sittaford Tor, Fernworthy Forest and Fernworthy reservoir Image copyright: burtskitecam (Paul Burton), hosted on Flickr and displayed under the terms of their API.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 477m ESE 108° Sittaford Tor Cairn* Cairn (SX6346182650)
 915m ENE 68° Grey Wethers.* Stone Circle (SX63878313)
 1000m E 84° Sittaford Tor pound* Misc. Earthwork (SX64018288)
 1.0km ESE 102° Sittaford Marsh Hut Circles* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX6402982560)
 1.1km E 87° South Teignhead* Cairn (SX64088284)
 1.2km E 96° White Ridge Standing Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SX6416282653)
 1.2km E 96° White Ridge pound* Ring Cairn (SX6416882656)
 1.4km NW 317° Quintins Man Cairn (SX62098386)
 1.6km SE 127° White Ridge SW settlements* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX64258181)
 1.6km SE 144° Lade Hill Brook Beehive Hut* Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry (SX63938145)
 1.6km SE 135° White Ridge SW cairn* Round Cairn (SX64158162)
 2.0km ENE 60° Fernworthy settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX6481183777)
 2.1km ENE 60° Hemstone Rocks Platform Cairn Circle* Cairn (SX6485683806)
 2.1km ESE 106° White Ridge cairn* Round Cairn (SX65028218)
 2.1km ENE 59° Hemstone Rocks Ring Cairn and Cist* Cairn (SX6485283850)
 2.3km NE 54° Froggymead Settlement* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX649841)
 2.7km ESE 116° White Ridge stone row* Stone Row / Alignment (SX65408156)
 2.7km SSE 164° Broadun Ring* Ancient Village or Settlement (SX6369980178)
 2.8km ENE 61° Fernworthy Cairn SW* Cairn (SX65478410)
 2.8km ENE 62° Fernworthy Cairn 4* Cairn (SX65518403)
 2.8km ENE 62° Fernworthy stone row SE* Stone Row / Alignment (SX65498407)
 2.8km ENE 61° Fernworthy* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX65488410)
 2.8km ENE 61° Fernworthy stone row SW* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SX6547984105)
 2.8km ENE 61° Fernworthy Cairn SE* Cairn (SX65498409)
 2.8km ENE 61° Fernworthy circle* Stone Circle (SX65488411)
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"Sittaford Stone Circle" | Login/Create an Account | 9 News and Comments
  
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Re: Sittaford Stone Circle by TheCaptain on Friday, 04 November 2016
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"Dartmoor stone circle undisturbed for hundreds of years being excavated"
See latest update here
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Re: Sittaford Stone Circle featured on BBC local news by AngieLake on Thursday, 28 May 2015
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There was a really good item about the discovery of this circle on Spotlight (the local South West area BBC news programme) a couple of nights ago.
[I meant to add it then, but forgot!]
I think it was on 26th May, and the item appeared around 6.40- 6.45pm.
There was very good film footage.
A local man (Alan Endacott?) who'd noticed this arrangement of stones several years ago, and believed them to be important, was interviewed as they walked around the circle of fallen stones.
He also pointed out the fact that there seem to be an arc of stone circles on Dartmoor with this one being part of the pattern.
Grey Wethers also featured as an example of how the circle would appear if the stones were erect. A long-distance shot of Grey Wethers appeared to be from the Sittaford Circle's site, or close by.
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Re: Sittaford Stone Circle Article in local paper by AngieLake on Sunday, 10 May 2015
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Just come across this article online:
http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/stone-circle-discovered-Dartmoor-century-revealed/story-26474238-detail/story.html
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Re: Sittaford Stone Circle by TheCaptain on Thursday, 30 April 2015
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"Archaeologists explore newly discovered Dartmoor stone circle." See latest update from Dartmoor National Park here.
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    Archaeologists explore newly discovered Dartmoor stone circle by Andy B on Friday, 01 May 2015
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    28 April 2015
    The first stage of some exciting archaeological exploration has just been completed on Dartmoor. This has involved a geophysical survey on a recently discovered large stone circle located close to Sittaford Tor.

    The circle is situated 525m above sea level, making it the highest stone circle in southern England, with panoramic views in all directions. With a diameter of 34m, it is the second largest circle on Dartmoor. The first stones were identified by Alan Endacott a few years ago. The circle consists of 30 recumbent stones, plus one more lying in a gap just outside the circle and now incorporated into an unfinished enclosure wall. The stones probably came from Sittaford Tor itself and are of a fairly uniform size, suggesting they were carefully chosen. Packing stones visible around the bases of some of these indicates that the stones were originally upright.

    When upright the circle would have been very impressive, dominating the surrounding landscape and resembling in appearance the Grey Wethers double stone circle which lies close to Fernworthy Forest about 1km away.

    This is the first stone circle to be discovered on the high moor for well over 100 years and it fits in well with the pattern of a “sacred” arc of similar stone circles, located around the north eastern perimeter of Dartmoor. This pattern suggests some kind of planning and liaison between the communities living on Dartmoor in the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age 5,000-4,000 years ago.

    Jane Marchand, Senior Archaeologist, Dartmoor National Park said:
    ‘Its discovery is providing an opportunity for investigation using the very latest archaeological scientific methods to provide long awaited insights into the chronology, construction and the purpose of these most elusive and iconic of Dartmoor’s prehistoric monuments. Some preliminary radio carbon dating has already taken place on soil samples taken from directly beneath two of the stones. These are the first radiocarbon determinations from a Dartmoor stone circle. The dates have produced very similar results and calibrate to the end of the third millennium BC (4,000 years ago). This indicates the date by which the stones had fallen.’

    Although the full results of the geophysical surveys are not back yet, preliminary results have revealed a wide ditch running in a linear fashion just outside the eastern side of the circle. Further investigation is planned later this summer.

    The geophysical work on this site has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Funded scheme, Moor than meets the eye which is helping people to discover the Dartmoor Story.

    The Moor than meets the eye Landscape Partnership shows that there is indeed more than meets the eye to the story of Dartmoor; a landscape forged by nature and shaped by people from prehistoric times to today. It brings people together to explore Dartmoor’s past, conserve its wildlife and archaeology, improve understanding of the landscape and share and develop skills to look after it for generations to come.

    The Moor than meets the eye Landscape Partnership Scheme has received funding of £1.9 million from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and will run for 5 years.

    The organisations that form the partnership are: Dartmoor National Park, Dartmoor Farmers’ Association, Dartmoor Preservation Association, Dartmoor Commoners’ Council, Devon County Council, Duchy of Cornwall, English Heritage, Forestry Commission, Natural England, South West Lakes Trust, RSPB and the Woodland Trust.

    The Moor than meets the eye Landscape Partnership area covers 280 sq km of central and south east Dartmoor and is one of the UK’s finest examples of a palimpsest – a landscape on which layer upon layer of human activity has left a mark. Its unique character has been shaped over millennia ensuring that people and place are intrinsically linked.

    More info

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Re: Sittaford Stone Circle by TheCaptain on Saturday, 14 June 2014
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notes from my visit of Wednesday 11th June 2014.

Having walked all through Fernworthy Forest and out onto the open moor along then track to Teignhead farm, I then headed along the obvious trackway towards Sittaford Tor, fording the stream at a very surprising large stone slabbed ford, then the climb up to the top of the 538 metre tall grassy topped tor. The views from here are splendid in all 360 degrees, with today the army active out and about to the northwest on Hangingstone Hill. Looking around with my maps and directions, I was able to tell where the newly found stone circle should be, and indeed, having been there and on my way back, it is possible to see and make out some of the stones from the top of the tor.

The stone circle is found about 300 metres to the southwest of the tor, just to the north of the old reave or boundary wall which runs along the summit ridge. Following along this wall, it is easy to find the circle because of the presence of a standing stone built into the wall, probably originally an outlier for the circle. It is very wet and boggy up here even on a day like today, after many weeks of fine weather, so I suspect this is largely the reason for the circle having never been found before. Its positioned in what I would consider a good place for a Dartmoor stone circle, on a flat saddle of land spaced between various peaks. Sometime in the recent past, people have been and dug around each and every one of the stones, digging them out from any covering peat and bog, making the full circle clearly seen.

There are thirty two stones or holes cut into the moor, of which all but perhaps 2 have a stone or parts of stone to be seen in them, often laying in a pool of dark brown peat tea. As I walked around, I created a waypoint for each of the stones on my GPS, hoping to be able to plot them out on a map at home. There is a single gap on the southeastern side, nearby to the marker, which may at one time have been an entrance, although there is present a stone here positioned slightly within the circle. I paced out the diameter today to be 34 paces, but with much of the ground being so wet and boggy, my paces were short, so I estimate about 30 metres. The stones are fairly equally sized, being between 1.5 and 2 metres in height/length, and equally spaced, probaboy about 3 metres betwen each stone.

Other than myself, there are three lads out hiking, the army bashing and thumping away in the distance, the only other noises being the constant chirrupping of skylarks, the whooshing of the wind, and the squelching of my feet through the bog.

It is fabulous to have another stone circle here on Dartmoor, which apart from trhe fallen stones is pretty much complete, no doubt all becoming buried under a deeper bog before any destruction occurred, then becoming completely forgotten and unknown, missed by all the antiquarians, untill the last few years, the level of the bog presumably dropping sufficiently to allow recognition of the circle. As with the recently found circles and rows on Bodmin Moor, it makes me wonder just how many more there are out here waiting to be found. Good reason to keep on looking!
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Re: Sittaford Stone Circle by caradoc68 on Saturday, 14 June 2014
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Having followed the sacred crescent for many years and just wondering, as l walk, why are these stone circles in the shape of a crescent ... What was going on and why do all these circle's form the shape of a crescent ? Complete hypothesis on my part, but after looking at the maps again and seeing where the eighth circle is (Sittaford stone circle) it appears to dip back up to the West, what if there were more stone circles further North West which would create a large circle of Stone circles.
This brings me to the discovery of Whitehorse Hill Kist in 2001, this would place this kist more or less in the middle of the ring of stone circles. This Kist is very important to our understanding of the Moor and a new insight to the inhabitants of the people who lived there.
There is one problem with this theory and that is the area to the North West as been heavily bombarded by the military for over a hundred years, as it falls into the area of the Okehampton firing range.
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Re: Sittaford Stone Circle by davep on Tuesday, 27 May 2014
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This site is perhaps not much to look at in its current state but if it had been found by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee and restored it would be one of the famous circles on Dartmoor. What is fascinating is the proximity of Sittaford Tor and less than 1km away over the horizon to the north-east of Sittaford Tor the Grey Wethers.

Just a word on visiting the site. It is easy to get to from Postbridge and easy to find from Sittaford Tor - follow the reave to the outlier. The area does get very boggy in wet weather. To get back to Postbridge is a walk nearly due south. However a path from the Grey Wethers leads you south into an area bounded by the impassable Dart River - so you need to veer east on the way back to avoid being stuck the wrong side of the river.
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