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Drizzlecombe row 2
Trip No.134 Entry No.7 Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3
Drizzlecombe row 2 submitted by Brian Byng on 7th Feb 2002. View of what the natives call row C the one with the 14ft (4.3m) high
terminal stone in Burls book page 114. The chinese graphic is on the largest
stone that can be seen at the far end & is facing the camera.
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Log Text: Drizzlecombe 2: Having three stone rows, their cairns, cists and longstones all in a very close proximity was quite stunning. As we walked up and down this row with Sandy G and the rest of the Intrepid Dartmoor Expedition Group, I was barely able to take it all in - so much to see and understand.
When we started off at the longstone at the western end of the row, there was blue sky and whispy clouds; by the time we'd wandered up to the cairn at the eastern end of the row, a mist/clag had started to descend, so the views from/around the stone row weren't quite as good as earlier, but the atmosphere of this place was just amazing.
The longstone is a really peculiar shape. Butler, volume 3 of "Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities", page 138, says "According to Worth, it was probably dragged here from Higher Hartor Tor, about a kilometre away".
Drizzlecombe cairn 2
Trip No.134 Entry No.8 Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Ring Cairn
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3
Drizzlecombe cairn 2 submitted by simcon on 27th Aug 2003. SX593671 Drizzle Combe Cairn East, Dartmoor Devon. This cairn is at the top end of the rightmost row at this site. The view in this picture is looking back down the row in a south westerly direction. Left of centre is a huge cairn called Giant's Basin Cairn (so it says on the OS map).
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Log Text: Drizzlecombe Cairn 2: After a most satisfactory and pleasant morning, we sat at the edges of the cairns heading up rows 2 and 3 and had a quick lunch break. It really is an amazing spot, and so pleased to have visited, although correctly cataloguing my photos to the right site proved a little challenging at the end of the day.
Drizzlecombe cairn 3
Trip No.134 Entry No.9 Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Ring Cairn
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3
Drizzlecombe cairn 3 submitted by simcon on 27th Aug 2003. SX593671 Drizzle Combe Cairn West, Dartmoor Devon. This cairn is at the top end of the leftmost row at this site. The view in this picture is looking back down the row in a south westerly direction. You can clearly see the other row in the left of this picture extending way down the hill.
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Log Text: Drizzlecombe Cairn 3: cairn at the head of Drizzlecombe Stone Row 3. The stone row is just offset from the centre of the cairn. Butler, in his "Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, page 138, says: "the third row descends from cairn 3 surrounded by an outer ring of slabs 8.6m across mostly in contact with its base ... probably only three stones are missing out of t10, the largest of those remaining standing about a metre high facing the row". Of the three cairns at the eastern end of the row, this cairn has the tallest stones protruding out of it, and the most character. See Butler's diagram of it on page 139 (fig. 49.19.3).
After looking at the eastern end of the row, we proceeded up the slope, looking for the Drizzlecombe Cist and the settlements at the top of the slope, meandering back along stone row 3 as we came back.
Drizzlecombe row 3
Trip No.134 Entry No.10 Date Added: 2nd Aug 2019
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3
Drizzlecombe row 3 submitted by ernar on 17th Oct 2004. The NW stone row at Drizzlecombe begins at the center cairn (of a 3-cairn group oriented SE just downhill the settlement) and is aligned at 235º.
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Log Text: Drizzlecombe Stone Row 3: The last of the stone rows we visited today (although there was to be a minor, minor surprise at Yellowmead to end the afternoon). This surprising row, the same length as Row 1, and bends in the middle (it’s not straight).
We split the visit to this row into two; the first part was looking at the eastern end of the row and the cairn; the second was after we’d wandered up slope to look at the larger cist, the settlements and another large cairn. We then meandered back down Row 3. It was on the way back that I found a compass between the tussocks of grass, covered in heavy dew and I thought the moisture had got inside the mechanism and was ruined. I was going to leave it by the stones in case anyone collected it, but given where it was, we concluded no-one was likely to walk along this particular spot between the rows. I later found out that it was a military compass, probably dropped by one of the many soldiers who carry out exercises in this location.
The longstone at the eastern end of the row was intriguing. It appeared to be undressed granite, and bore some sort of resemblance to the marker stone seen earlier today, but is most definitely part of row 3. The large, but friendly, cattle in the field liked to lean against it, presumably because it absorbed the heat of the sun, or to scratch.
Drizzlecombe cairn 4
Trip No.134 Entry No.11 Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3
Drizzlecombe cairn 4 submitted by Bladup on 12th May 2017. Drizzlecombe cairn 4 in alignment with the tallest standing stone and the Giant's Basin cairn.
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Log Text: Drizzlecombe Cairn 4: I took photographs of all three cairns in a row, then one at a time. My notes indicate this is Drizzlecombe Cairn 4. This is the most northerly of the three cairns at the head of rows 2 and 3, but this cairn does not have a row descending from it.
Drizzlecombe cairn 13
Trip No.134 Entry No.12 Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Cist
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3
Drizzlecombe cairn 13 submitted by Brian Byng on 7th Feb 2002. View looking east of the large cist at Drizzlecombe which Burl claims has a row running in an Easterly direction in line with the tilted slab. I looked very carefully & found no sign of such a row. None of my references mention such a row & I have asked around those who should know - again without success. I think this is another of Burls iffy sites.
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Log Text: Drizzlecombe Cairn 13: Leaving the stone rows behind, we walked up slope and to the WNW. This is a beautiful example of a cairn with central cist. What is very noticeable about this cist is that the stones making up two of the sides projects outside the other two ends. Looking at the Butler diagram for these sites (Volume 3, page 135), cairn 13 is indeed in ine with cairns 2, 3 and 4, but about 150m further from the stone rows.
Drizzlecombe W row
Trip No.134 Entry No.13 Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 3 Access 3
Drizzlecombe W row submitted by Anne T on 15th Jul 2019. In trying to identify this elusive row, Sandy asked members of the group to stand on stones they thought might be part of the stone row. From foreground to background: Janet Daynes, Dave Parks (Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks), Gordon Fisher (just off to the right) and Sandy G. Sandy G is walking down the line of stones. He is planning a return trip later in the year to take a closer look.
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Log Text: Drizzlecombe West Stone Row: Whilst Sandy G had our group here, he asked us all to help him have a look for this elusive stone row, and we were happy to help, which mentioned in Burl but not in Butler (I haven’t been able to find the mention in Burl, yet).
The others in the group had a far keener eye than me for spotting the lines of stones in the grass, so I wandered up slope and stood on a cairn, observing. Not having my GPS with me, I think this is Butler Drizzlecombe Cairn 15 at SX 5925 6721.
Sandy had the rest of the group stand on stones which they thought might be part of the row, to see how they lined up.
He plans a return visit in September 2019, so I’ll need to watch for an update.
Drizzlecombe Cairn 18
Trip No.134 Entry No.14 Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Cairn
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3
Drizzlecombe Cairn 18 submitted by davep on 16th Jul 2019. Photograph from Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks, site 1520, Drizzlecome 18 Cairn. Photograph taken 15.05.2019
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Log Text: Drizzlecombe Cairn 18: An enormous cairn, which rivals the Giant's Basin in size, so why there is so little information about it, I'm not sure. I managed to clamber up to the top of the cairn and have a look inside, where there is a hollow where it has been excavated. Built almost on top of one of the settlements at the south-eastern side of Drizzlecombe, it looks over the River Plym to the south.
Drizzlecombe Settlement
Trip No.134 Entry No.15 Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3
Drizzlecombe Settlement submitted by ernar on 17th Oct 2004. Settlement ruins on Drizzlecombe. With a breathtaking view of the megalithic complex and the valley, this settlement was located uphill from the several cairns and Stone Rows forming the Complex. Behind the stone maniacs and the grass managers (sheep) you can see the westernmost cairn shown on the OS map.
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Log Text: Drizzlecombe Settlements: After the stone rows, we move up-slope to try and find row 4. Whilst the rest of the group helped Sandy G identify possible stones in this row, I wandered over to Butler's Cairn 18, photographing what looked like some hut circles embedded in the turf. Arriving at Cairn 18, I walked to the top of to look at the enclosed settlement to its south/south western side, which I found fascinating.
Dave Parks was also meandering around the cairn, so he and I wandered back towards the group, with me taking photos of the long, low banks running across the pasture.
Higher up the hill was yet another settlement(s) which I barely took in. This area is so complex and interesting, yet I confess to 'brain overload' by this time of the afternoon, especially as there was so much more yet to come!
I've since managed to get hold of a pdf copy of Jennifer Robertson's unpublished thesis "Archaeology of the Upper Plym Valley" (all 592 pages), which I'll dip into soon, to try and understand more about this area.
Drizzlecombe cist 22
Trip No.134 Entry No.17 Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Cist
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3
Drizzlecombe cist 22 submitted by TheCaptain on 6th Jul 2007. To the south of the main Drizzlecombe sites can be found this cairn with cist.
The possible capstone is displaced to the west.
Viewed here looking southeast towards Shavercombe.
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Log Text: Drizzlecombe Cist 22: This was an ‘added on extra’ as it was only an additional 100m, and if we took a short detour to cross the leat, was on our way anyway. Located in the valley, north of the river, this would have been a pleasant, peaceful spot, within sight of the stone rows.
Yellowmead
Trip No.134 Entry No.18 Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3
Yellowmead submitted by graemefield on 31st Oct 2013. Panoramic
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Log Text: Yellowmead Fourfold Stone Circle: This stone circle has long been on my wish-list, but I thought I’d never be able to see it, because access was described as being difficult.
Fortunately, Dave Parks and Sandy G had been here before and knew the pitfalls, selecting the right route for us. We were also extremely fortunate in coming here after a prolonged dry spell, so we encountered no boggy areas, apart from one by the stream on the way back to the car park.
By this time of the afternoon, I was hot and tired, and my feet ached really badly, but I was determined to see this stone circle. I should have swapped my walking boots for my wellies to make the walking a little softer on the soles of my feet, but stubbornly didn’t. Mistake. However, the walk to see this circle was well worth it, although I need to apologise to the rest of the group for being very grumpy on the way back. Also, by this time the sun had come out and everyone was getting sunburned, despite the continuous application of sun-screen.
It was really good to have the experts here to describe the monuments to us. Gordon and Dave Parks wandered off to see if they could find other stones in the stone row further to the WSW of the row, but the grass was knee high in this part of the meadow.
Andrew, on the way back to the pub after our epic trip, was saying that he didn’t think the stone circle was entirely genuine; his thinking was the Victorians had ‘beautified’ it for tourists, so I spent some time in the car pulling up the different websites. The stone circle is described as having been ‘faithfully restored’, but Andrew still has his doubts.
We all met up in the Prince of Wales in Princetown for a couple of ice cold pints, before dispersing for the evening. I confess to not recognising Sandy G in the bar, as he didn’t have his hat on – I’ve never seen him without it!
Yellowmead row
Trip No.134 Entry No.19 Date Added: 19th Jul 2019
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3
Yellowmead row submitted by Bladup on 12th May 2017. Yellowmead. This row leaves the circles at the south west.
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Log Text: Yellomead Stone Row: Without Sandy G and Dave P I would not have known this stone row was here at all. Dave and Gordon F disappeared into the long grass towards the south/south west of the circle to see if they could find any more stones. I focussed on trying to understand what I was seeing nearer to the circle. Having Sandy's diagram, along with the information from Butler and other websites, has helped to clarify my understanding. To think that stone rows may have radiated from this fourfold stone circle. Absolutely fascinating!
Yellowmead cairn
Trip No.134 Entry No.20 Date Added: 19th Jul 2019
Site Type: Cairn
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3
Yellowmead cairn submitted by caradoc68 on 25th Aug 2011. EN cairn ( yellowmead group ) SX 575 679. 48m EEN of Yellowmead rings. This lovely little cairn circle, no more then five meters in diameter with five stones remaining in the circle.The centre as been completely robbed out and silted back up again leaving a different coloured grass. Easy to miss but worth a look
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Log Text: Yellowmead Cairn: Whilst we started walking back to the car park, trying a different path mown through the grass, first running uphill then eastwards then south, we passed this cairn and stopped to take a closer look.
Whilst we were doing this, someone mentioned that the photo of the stone row on the Portal wasn’t the row we’d just looked at, but looked more like a line of stones running above, and parallel to the leat to the south west of the circle, and which we’d crossed to reach it. Some of the group split off to look at this more closely, and decided that the stones in the photo were of tin workings and an old track.
There was not much left of this cairn at all, although the slight mound did stand out nicely at the top of the slope.
The Round Pound
Trip No.135 Entry No.1 Date Added: 19th Jul 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4
The Round Pound submitted by thecaptain on 23rd Oct 2004. The Round Pound, looking northwest from across the road which has been curved to pass around it.
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Log Text: Round Pound Enclosure (part of the Kes Tor Settlement): For our first stop of the day, this was only a very short walk north-eastwards from the car park, and so visible from the single track road, I was left with open-mouthed and couldn’t wait to get over to this monument to take a closer look.
With Sandy knowing this site so well, we had an almost intimate walk-round this impressive part of the Kes Tor settlement. Little did I appreciate, until we walked over the road to the east, that so much more lay in store.
A superb area, and so easy to reach!
Kestor Settlement
Trip No.135 Entry No.2 Date Added: 31st Jul 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4
Kestor Settlement submitted by thecaptain on 24th Oct 2004. View northeast from Kestor rocks overlooking Kestor Settlement. The entire hilltop and hillsides here are covered in the ancient remains of ancient huts and field systems.
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Log Text: Kestor Settlement (of which Round Pound is part of): Only across the road from the Round Pound, which I learned later was part of this settlement and not separate from it, as we walked up the slope to the east of Round Pound, I couldn’t believe the amount, and quality, of the structures that remained here.
At first, it was all a little mind-boggling, but then Sandy G produced a plan of the site, and I kept asking where we were on the plan, so I could sort my photographs accordingly. The views to the east and north east would have been quite amazing, had it not been for the mist around that day.
At home, I poured over Butler's "Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities", volume 2, pages 170 onwards, which has a map of the settlement and descriptions of the field systems and the individual houses and enclosures within it. Brilliant!
Kes Tor Rock Basin
Trip No.135 Entry No.4 Date Added: 31st Jul 2019
Site Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3
Kes Tor Rock Basin submitted by AngieLake on 28th Jul 2017. Another view of the rock basin here. Probably taken in 2002 on old film camera.
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Log Text: Kes Tor Outcrop: My fear of falling stopped me from going to the top of this amazing outcrop to see the rock basin (I saw another walker trip over and narrowly miss going over the edge whilst I was there), but I admired the outcrop from down below. I hope I can still tick this site off my Dartmoor list as having visited!
Kes Tor Cairn
Trip No.135 Entry No.5 Date Added: 31st Jul 2019
Site Type: Cairn
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3
Kes Tor Cairn submitted by davep on 31st Jul 2019. Photograph taken 16th May 2019. Kes Tor Reported Cairn from Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks (site 1923).
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Log Text: Kes Tor Cairn: As the group gathered around the western side of the tor, we saw what I initially thought was a tumble of smaller rocks from the side of the Tor, but as I walked around photographing it, thought it resembled a cairn. Walking back to join the group, Sandy and Dave were in conversation, concluding it was indeed probably a cairn. Dave took a gps with his garmin, remarkably similar to mine with my basic model, and has now included the cairn on Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks as a 'reported cairn' (site 1923).
Shovel Down Cairn Row 4
Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Cairn
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3
Shovel Down row 4 Cairn submitted by thecaptain on 16th Oct 2004. At the southern end of row 4 is a 7 metre diameter cairn with a central pit. This is the view looking west.
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Log Text: Shovel Down Row 4 Cairn: Walking from Kes Tor across the moorland trackway, we came across this 'stony lump' at the top of a slope. Looking to my right (north), there was a double stone row running downslope at 90 degrees to the track. Only a small cairn, but interesting, particularly given its context. The group spent some time checking to see if any trace of the cist was visible, but we didn't find it.
Shovel Down row 4
Trip No.136 Entry No.7 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3
Shovel Down row 4 submitted by thecaptain on 16th Oct 2004. A typical Dartmoor avenue, seen here from the northern end, running off up the hillside to the south.
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Log Text: Shovel Down Row 4: From Shovel Down Cairn Row 4, this row started just to the north west, the stones ‘marching’ steadily downhill. These stones were similar in size to the Drizzlecombe Stone Rows 1 & 2, but largely hidden in tall grass.
Whilst everyone else walked down to the Fourfold Stone Circle to start a well deserved lunch break, and see the start of Shovel Down Row 2, I paused to take photographs of row 4. The row reminded me more than a little of Standingstone Rigg in Northumberland, with the size of the stones and the steepness of the slope down which the stones ran (not literally!).
Shovel Down Fourfold Circle
Trip No.135 Entry No.8 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 3
Shovel Down Fourfold circle submitted by simcon on 29th Aug 2003. SX659861 Shovel Down Stone Circle, Dartmoor Devon. I see this Web site lists two circles here, SE and NW. I only saw this circle which matches the description of Shovel Down SE Stone Circle. The view is looking south where the row continues to a large standing stone. Notice the two large standing stones fallen at the bottom of this picture. One has CP carved into it and the large stone over the hill has DC using the same size and style of letters. I do not know what this means. I parked in Fernw...
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Log Text: Shovel Down Fourfold Stone Circle: Again, so many monuments in such a short walk – but by now, I should have stopped being surprised! At Kes Tor, Sandy G had spotted AngieLake, who had arrived a little later than us at the car park, and who had wandered about looking for us. By this time, it was lunchtime, and we were pleased to re-group and sit and take a welcome break, using the two large stones as the head of row 2 as a convenient picnic spot.
Whilst everyone was sharing out their sandwiches and tea/coffee, I took a few minutes to try and photograph the small-ish stones of the fourfold stone circle, largely hidden by the grassy tussocks, but none-the-less still recognisable as a kerbed cairn, although a little similar (if smaller) than Yellowmead.
With its proximity to row 2 and row 4, and other rows and features I'd not yet seen, this was an amazing spot.