This site is actually easier to unravel when viewed from the top of Rippon Tor, to the ESE (pic already supplied). When walking along the lower SE contours of the tors (the ridge above Foale’s Arrishes is fairly level, and Pil Tor is approx SSW of Top Tor), you are met with a jumble of light-coloured stones, and a profusion of bracken. Somewhere in amongst all this are hut circles and walls of fields strung out between the older reaves. To help make sense of it, I hand-drew the plan in Butler’s ‘Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquites, Volume One – The East’*, published in 1991. The section on Foales Arrishes comes under Map 9, and starts on page 57. I took his book with me to try to locate some of the highlights of the site, and took many photos of those I believe I found. *(This set of five books is invaluable when exploring Dartmoor.) I parked at a little pull-in by the Widecombe road, just past Hemsworthy Gate, and right opposite Seven Lords’ Lands cairn. Foales’ Arrishes is very close to the road here.
First of all I had to smile at the mare and her foal idly munching grass near the footpath to Top Tor. We’ve all heard of the ‘Hound of the Baskerville’s’ - well this must have been the ‘Foal of Foale’s Arrishes’! He and his mum were still around when I returned over the top of the ridge 3 hours later.
Butler describes Foale’s Arrishes as “one of the most interesting settlement sites on Dartmoor, and at 300 m from the Widecombe to Haytor road comparatively easy to visit, though much of the site is under bracken during the summer.” (Oh, YES!)
“The settlement was laid out between the ends of a series of parallel reaves on the flatter ground around the head of Blackslade Water. Four of these reaves continue uphill to the west beyond Pil and Top Tors in the direction of Widecombe” while in the other direction they continue up over Rippon Tor.
“Cross banks built between the reaves formed rectangular fields surrounding thehuts, and short curved banks added outside to provide each with a small paddock or yard.” (Not exactly word-for-word.)
As the population increased the settlement expanded uphill. The distortion in the regular pattern near Huts 1 and 2 were caused during the constant repair and addition to walls.
The prehistoric site gets its current name from the last innkeeper, a ‘Mr Foale’, of the 18th century ‘New House’ inn, which once stood beside the Hemsorthy Gate to Cold East Cross road, and where a few low walls still remain. ‘Arrish’ is a Devonshire word for field, “particularly a corn field”.
Much of the wall stone of the site was removed by road-makers as noted by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in 1896. The bottom right corner, the east section, has been removed as stated by Rev’d Croker, and towards the road, several truncated banks show where demolition has been more thorough.
Forming the earliest part of the settlement are the short and low parallel banks between Huts 1 and 4, marked Hi to Hiv, and orientated 17⁰ to the west. He shows a short section running at right-angles on the plan, at Hvii, and [NB] I omitted the ‘Hvi’ on the line of wall to the left of Hut 2.
All eight huts were excavated by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in 1896 and a report was published in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association the following year. “The walls were mostly built of large slabs and some of the entrances are still visible.
“Hut 1 (9.5 m) is the largest and has the unusual feature of an annexe outside the entrance on the south. This is built of neatly coursed stone (though you can’t see that!), which suggests a later rebuild, though the excavators found a cooking hole, charcoal and pottery on the paved floor contemporary with that from the hut. The dwelling itself produced a piece of flint flake used as a knife and more pottery.”
“Hut 2 (6.1 m) is built into the wall of a semicircular enclosure 15 x 20 m across, into which there is no obvious access. Nor is the hut entrance which the excavators found on the south-east side any longer visible.” (Another hut which was very overgrown with bracken on 22nd August 2012!) “A cooking hole was found together with pottery and three flint fragments and rubbing stones.”
“The field associated with Hut 3 (7.1 m) is detached from the rest of the settlement. The gap in the reave opposite the hut may be the original entrance into the yard. The excavators found only a flint flake which they concluded was probably a knife.”
“Hut 4 (5.5 m)lies on the opposite side of the reave and is a much less substantial building than the others. The wall is mainly a single line of stones, unlike neighbouring hut 3 which is double-slabbed. Excavation revealed no sign of occupation nor any finds.” (I wonder if it WAS a hut?)
“The entrance to Hut 5 (8.3 m), partly blocked by a fallen slab, opens into a long narrow enclosure downhill, but again no sign of occupation was found.”
“A low bank in an arc closely follows the uphill edge of Hut 6 (6.8 m), but the lower side of this little enclosure has been destroyed by the rebuilt field wall. Excavation produced ‘a grit rubber’.
“Hut 7 (8.6 m) lies further uphill than the rest with the floor noticeably levelled into the hillside, the finds here being a flint scraper, pottery and charcoal.”
“A curved bank joins Hut 8 (8.3 m) to the reave on one side and the rebuilt cross-bank on the other where a pit has been dug across the wall. A jamb stone still stands at the entrance to the south-east. The fireplace and two cooking holes were found, both of which contained pottery shards. Flint flakes and a quartz crystal were also found.”
On 22nd I’d walked along the line of stones that followed one of the lower contours into the site of Foale’s Arrishes. Nothing looked like a proper wall, and some stones were very large while others were quite small. Up the slope I came across a hut circle which had a fairly flat interior. Might this have been Hut 7?... I really don’t know! I took photos from the interior looking out, [and later a view down over it]. Then I’d wandered up hill and down again, and followed some walls and reaves, taking photos in both directions. The odd sheep lurking here was a real ‘grey wether’! Some areas of stone might have been Huts 5, 6, or 8, but it wasn’t until I noticed the larger stones of its doorway above the bracken, that I was convinced I’d found Hut 1. This was confirmed by the small curved annexe outside the entrance on the south side. Indeed, while exiting the interior later, I had completely forgotten this feature and turned to my right only to find myself ‘trapped’ in the narrow funneled end of it!
From here another huge stone was visible above the bracken to the west or south west. [See ‘? S ?’ on plan.] Thinking it must be a hut circle I went to investigate, only to find it was part of a reave, but there were two stones, which looked as if they’d been fashioned to fit, leaning against each other. Standing on the southwestern side looking north east, the tops of the stone/s seemed to mimic the outline of Haytor Rocks and Saddle Tor on the horizon. It looked as if they’d been built into a kind of shrine, with a space below that might have held an image, much as medieval churches had a niche for a saint’s statue.
I looked around for any hut circles adjoining the wall, thinking I might be near Hut 4, but realised this area was much further away. Climbing back up out of the bracken-filled area containing huts 1 and 2, I sat briefly on a rock marked ‘A * ?’ on the plan. Taking out the compass I read off the approx orientation of Haytor Rocks at 60⁰ and Rippon Tor at 100⁰.
Delving into Butler’s book again I decided to have another look for Hut 2 and found what I believed to be this site, where an oval-topped stone poked its head above the tall bracken. There were certainly curved ‘walls’ incorporated in that structure. Before leaving that area I went into roomy (but bracken filled!) Hut 1 and took photos of the views from inside it. The doorway was quite sturdy, and having found my way out of the ‘annexe’ (see above!) I took a photo of a stone in the curving outer wall, showing how far it stood from the door-stones; also a shot of the smaller wall stones where the annexe met the outer SW arc of the hut circle walls. Checking the orientation of Hut 2 from Hut 1, gave approx 100⁰, in line with Rippon Tor’s peak.
Next I searched for Huts 3 and 4. I have photos that I believe are Hut 3 and its enclosure, and there was certainly a line of stones nearby which corresponded with the description of Hut 4 in Butler’s guide. I took a shot of the taller stone in this line, looking up towards Pil Tor.
Climbing up on to Pil Tor’s rocks I tried to see a more easily-recognisable view of Foale’s Arrishes, but the angle of the hill made this impossible. From Pil Tor I headed SW downslope to Tunhill Rocks, where there are the remains of a lovely little ancient [presumably prehistoric] farmstead. Back to the wonderful organic shapes of Pil Tor (don’t miss these!), and over the fairly flat ridge, NNE to Top Tor, noticing the higher end of one of Foale’s Arrishes reaves crossing the path at right-angles. Descending the hill from Top Tor you are hit with the view of countless light-coloured stones, some pointed ones included, where the field walls are shown on top right of Butler’s plan. The track downhill has been paved with slabs of stone, probably taken from these fields, and on the road-side of this path are some rather large, interesting stones, some fairly pointed. Butler didn’t mention those in his book.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road