Stone Rows. A practical solution Devon

Submitted by rogerbhutchins on Sunday, 08 October 2006 Page Views: 2852

Country: England County: Devon Type: Stone Row / Alignment

Internal Links:

Roger B Hutchins writes: I have been a Dartmoor Guide for over thirty years, and have spent a great amount of time following the routes suggested by the stone rows. I believe that the early tinners set up the rows to give information of distance and direction to various locations, mainly coastal and estuary havens. The routes to the havens were way marked, and many of the way mark stones are still in place. Most have been removed for gate posts etc, but enough remain to demonstrate the system.

There are some interesting cases of way mark stones that have been worked on in more recent times, but have split during the process, or for some other reason have not been moved. There is an obvious relationship between early tin extraction and stone rows. Perhaps the most obvious case is "Kings Oven" one of the largest deposits of tin in Europe. Kings Oven was served by the Assicombe row, Hurston Ridge row, Challacombe row, White Ridge row, the now destroyed Soussons row. All these rows give direction to different havens, in all directions.

The way mark stones along the routes would have been easy to follow by experienced path finders and trackers. I now have photos and GPS readings of many of these, and am confident I can predict their positions.

I have been mainly working out of Tavistock, but I need data from more distant places. Positions and photos of any standing stone or stone that seems to have been placed would be of value. Sorting ancient stones from modern stones can be a problem, and of course there are hundreds of boundary stones that can confuse the situation.

Farmers are still removing ancient stones, and it is important to locate and record those that remain before the system becomes to fragmented to recognise.

Any help with this will be greatly appreciated.
Many Thanks
Roger B Hutchins.

Contributor Bio for rogerbhutchins: Based in Devon, contributing since 2006. Favourite site: Dartmoor. Occupation: Retired.

<< Growth of vegetation threatens traditional moorlands and archaeology

Feature Articles

Abandoned Landscapes - Snowdon >>