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<< Our Photo Pages >> White Ladder - Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue in England in Devon

Submitted by TimPrevett on Sunday, 19 February 2023  Page Views: 8516

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: White Ladder Alternative Name: Whiteladder
Country: England County: Devon Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue
Nearest Town: Barnstaple  Nearest Village: Brayford
Map Ref: SS7337337076  Landranger Map Number: 180
Latitude: 51.118937N  Longitude: 3.810603W
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
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 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.
4 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

SandyG visited on 2nd Aug 2018 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 5 Roadside car parking is available next to the row at SS 73238 37254. This site is best visited after a prolonged period of dry weather when the rushes have been cut. The gateway leading to the site has subsequently been blocked and access to the field may now be along the road to the south.

TimPrevett mdensham have visited here

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 13 with stone 12 beyond denoted by the upright ranging rod. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m). (Vote or comment on this photo)
A double stone row on Exmoor, the fact that this site is usually masked by peat suggests many more such stone rows still await discovery beneath and within Exmoor’s peatlands. The impact of climate on these fragile environments - with hotter, drier summers - will no doubt reveal fresh discoveries. It was first discovered by Hazel Eardley-Wilmot in 1975

During 2006 the particularly dry conditions caused peat shrinkage and this has in turn led to the re-emergence of the Whiteladder Stone Row on Five Barrows Hill, At least 4 pairs of stones not visible in May 2006 had emerged by the end of the summer, confirming that Whiteladder is a double stone row of local slate and lumps of white quartz.

Like the Warcombe Water Stone Row, Whiteladder probably dates from the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age.

Tim Prevett adds: Quartz stones are everywhere, scattered around loose on the ground. Thanks to the book Ancient Exmoor, I was able to follow these quartz rocks on through the hedge at the back of the photo, across the road and into the field the other side, and for several hundred yards distance after the road. Photo, visit & text by Roger Gay, South Molton, Devon.

See details from Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record (ENPHER).

Update August 2019: This stone row is included in the Stone Rows of Great Britain's website - see their entry for White Ladder, which includes a description, a plan of the row, plus photographs of the row and its individual stones.

The SRoGB notes: "It is shown in the wrong location on Ordnance Survey maps (which) has meant that doubts have in the past been expressed regarding its identification. There can be little doubt that there is a prehistoric stone row at this location".

The row is also scheduled as Historic England List ID 1002648 (Stone row N of Five Barrows Hill).

For access information see Sandy G's site visit report.

Note: See the links on our page to download the book Ancient Exmoor (1983) by amateur archaeologist Hazel Eardley-Wilmot (1910 - 1998)
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White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Plan of the southern part of the stone showing the stones visible on 2nd August 2018 (Source: survey at 1:200 by Sandy Gerrard). Further stones are known to exist but they were not visible at the time. (Vote or comment on this photo)

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Plan showing the actual position of the southern length of the White Ladder stone row (black dots) and the Ordnance Survey depiction (red dots). (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 21 with stone 20 beyond denoted by the upright ranging rod. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m). (Vote or comment on this photo)

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 20 with stone 19 beyond denoted by the upright ranging rod. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m). (Vote or comment on this photo)

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 19 with stone 18 beyond denoted by the upright ranging rod. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m). (Vote or comment on this photo)

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 18 with stone 17 beyond denoted by the upright ranging rod. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 17 with stone 16 beyond denoted by the upright ranging rod. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 16 with stone 15 beyond denoted by the upright ranging rod. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 15 with stone 13 beyond denoted by the upright ranging rod. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 12 with stone 11 beyond denoted by the upright ranging rod. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 11 measures 0.25m long by 0.12m wide, stands up to 0.01m high and is orientated at 132°. View from east (Scale 50cm).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 10 measures 0.25m long by 0.13m wide, is below the current ground surface and is orientated at 136°. View from east (Scale 50cm).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 9 with stone 8 denoted by the upright ranging rod. The other visible stone is no. 7. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 8 with stone 7 beyond denoted by the upright ranging rod. Stone 9 is also visible. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 8 measures 0.14m long by 0.03m wide, stands up to 0.02m high and is orientated at 125°. View from east (Scale 50cm).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 7 with stone 6 beyond denoted by the upright ranging rod. View from south east (Scales 50cm and 1m).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 7 measures 0.20m long by 0.12m wide, stands up to 0.05m high and is orientated at 15°. View from east (Scale 50cm).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 6 measures 0.12m long by 0.06m wide, stands up to 0.03m high and is orientated at 120°. View from east (Scale 50cm).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 5 measures 0.31m long by 0.09m wide, stands up to 0.04m high and is orientated at 118°. View from east (Scale 50cm).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 4 measures 0.26m long by 0.11m wide, is below the current ground surface and is orientated at 0°. View from east (Scale 50cm).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 3 measures 0.13m long by 0.10m wide, stands up to 0.02m high and is orientated at 140°. View from east (Scale 50cm).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 2 measures 0.21m long by 0.13m wide, stands up to 0.02m high and is orientated at 160°. View from east (Scale 50cm).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : Stone 1 measures 0.25m long by 0.04m wide is level with the ground surface and is orientated at 131°. It has been smashed in the past and is now in several fragments. View from east (Scale 50cm).

White Ladder
White Ladder submitted by SandyG : The best preseved part of the row at SS 73284 37174 includes several tiny stones which barely protrude through the turf.

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"White Ladder" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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Re: White Ladder by Andy B on Wednesday, 15 February 2023
(User Info | Send a Message)
White Ladder was discovered by amateur archaeologist Hazel Eardley-Wilmot (1910 - 1998) From Exmoor HER:

Among many examples that may be cited, White Ladder shines. This wonderful set of miniliths was (re)discovered by her, and painstakingly documented. The ravages of modern history were clinically described, landowners and other agencies informed and liaised with, discussions with academic authorities initiated, articles written and supportive forces mobilised. As a result, she established the best way to preserve such creations, while making their history and significance understandable, indeed intriguing, to a wider public. Arguably, Eardley-Wilmot did more than any other single individual to discover, describe, conserve and share these unique aspects of Exmoor.

More at
https://www.exmoorher.co.uk/theme/TEM32

https://www.exmoorher.co.uk/Monument/MSO6810
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Re: White Ladder by TheCaptain on Wednesday, 24 January 2018
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Notes from a visit in 2007:
The remnants of this stone row can be found in the field to the north below Five Burrows Hill, just a few metres from the roadside, and not far from the gateway at the NW corner of this field. I have read that the row can be followed for more than a thousand feet, with many of its stones being white quartz, hence the name, and that the row was only discovered in about 1977 after a fire.

From what I saw, to call the stones stumps would be complimentary, but they are here OK. The first stone I saw was at the grid ref quoted, and is a nice bit of white quartz with a few black veins in it. I managed to follow the row for about 50 metres to the southeast, and found the tops of about half a dozen more stones, but I presume that there are many more below the turf, which has obviously grown back since 1977.

Further away to the north west, and across the road in the next field, can be seen a couple more bits of quartz stone, which are possibly part more of the same row. I guess many of the stones, and particularly any of the more prominent ones, have been incorporated into the field walls over the millennia.

In my copy of “From Carnac to Callanish”, by Aubrey Burl (1993), he notes this as a double row, 1300 feet long, 3 feet wide, with approximately 200 stones. It also states that after prolonged wet weather, the peat swells to completely conceal them. Obviously one to visit at the end of a long dry summer, not on a wet March day.
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