Butterdon Down West

Date Added: 28th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 26th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Crikey, an easy to reach Dartmoor standing stone which has no pictures on the Portal, so I'd better go visit it. It's not the easiest place to park at Butterdon, but I find somewhere not blocking anything, and it’s a beautiful spot. Walk westwards up the lovely, almost tunnel like bridleway before getting onto the open downland, and head around the hillside until I find the stone, my first view of it being nothing like I was expecting, a tall thin curved shape presenting itself to me. The stone is taller than me, being just over 2 metres tall, and a nice granite slab, crystals sparkling in the bright sunlight, and a good crop of lichen hair on top.

About 40 metres south from the stone is a fairly large triangular slab standing on edge. A closer look at this, and I am not convinced it is an old standing stone, perhaps more of a large slab once making up part of a reave or boundary, as it looks to be in a fairly straight line of some kind with many more large stones present. Further walking around on this hillide, and it is seen that there are lots of these stones over the place, and fairly obviously many of them being in straight rows with each other.

Mardon Down N

Date Added: 28th Sep 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 26th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Approaching from the hilltop ridge path down to the northern circle, and the standing pillars of it make a splendid sight against the distant fields and forests. I am not sure what to make of it, is it a stone circle, a cairn with a surrouding circle of stones, or perhaps even a large roundhouse with large pillars incorporated ? There seems to be a double faced ring of edge set slabs, with half a dozen upright pillars incorporated. Now I am home and reading my Butler, it seems he is not sure what to make of it either, stating "it is unparalelled among the numerous cairns on the moorland massif only a short distance to the west, emphasizing the very localised nature of some cairn designs." Whatever it is, its a nice thing to visit, and i sit here listening to the skylarks and buzzards for a while before heading back down to a sandwich at the car and decide what to do next.

Mardon Down Cairn 1

Date Added: 28th Sep 2020
Site Type: Cairn Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 26th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Just south of the circle is what at first looks like a pile of large stones, but upon investigation is the remains of a cairn with much of the remains of a circle of surrounding stones, and with four large blocks at its southern side, and a large slab just on the outside, probably once the capstone to an internal cist. This is a nice monument. I continue on southwards to get a look at the wonderful views from the edge of the hill all the way round from the east through the deep valleys to the south and out to the west with the heights of the main bulk of Dartmoor. There are a lot of fires out there today, I suspect from burning off of the gorse and bracken.

Mardon Down S

Date Added: 28th Sep 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 26th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Further south along the ridgetop path, and I arrive at a large wide open green area, where I can see the remains of the stone circle extending around the exterior. The first part I get to has another of what looks like a little cairn right on the circumference of the circle, but again the hole in the centre looking too deep and recent. I initially wonder whether I can see the remains of a sort of cist capstone at one place, but which later I wonder whether it is one of the remaining circle stones fallen and buried here. The circle is the largest on Dartmoor at 38 metres diameter and clear to see, but in a very ruinous state, with only 2 or 3 stones still standing of what was probably once between 60 and 70. There is still a nice arc of stones on the southeast side, with one still standing and a large fallen block. Opposite to this on the northwest side is another good arc, with one very interesting shaped large slab still standing, and a couple more a bit further round. I dont get great feelings here, probably as its all pretty much wrecked, and too easy to find. Perhaps it would have been more atmospheric it it was all still hidden and lurking within the gorse. This gorse was still surruounding the whole circle, preventing seeing any of the fabulous views available from elsewhere on the hill.

Mardon Down Ring Cairn

Date Added: 28th Sep 2020
Site Type: Ring Cairn Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 26th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: A bit further south along the ridgetop pathway is a large open green area to the west, with the fairly clear remains of a large 20m diameter ring cairn, looking much like a saucer. Much of this cairn has been ruined, but in places there are some semblances of structure. On the eastern side of the pathway here is another recently cleared area which looks to have a cairn located within it, a circular pile of stones with a deep hole in the middle, surrounded by a bank of earth and stones, which all looks too recent and certainly not prehistoric, unless it has perhaps been recently excavated and left without backfilling. I wondered whether it was perhaps a shooting hide, but learned later that it was a mortar pit, made by troops based here in the build up to D Day during the second world war.

Mardon Down Cairn 3

Date Added: 28th Sep 2020
Site Type: Cairn Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 26th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Just south of the Giant's Grave is a smaller, but much more clear to see cairn, about 10m diameter and still with some semblance of a retaining circle of stones.

The Giant's Grave Mardon Down

Date Added: 28th Sep 2020
Site Type: Cairn Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 26th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: At the top of the hill, and there is a fairly large cleared green area, but the Giant's Grave cairn is very disappointing, being not much more than a large bumpy area of ground, of about 20m diameter. It certainly doesn't live up to its name.

Marden Down East

Date Added: 28th Sep 2020
Site Type: Ring Cairn Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 26th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Heading southwest up to the top of Mardon Hill, and about halfway up there is a recently cleared area by the path, with the clear remains of a ring cairn which I was not expecting to see from my quick look in Butler before heading off for the day, which basically states that there are probably other cairns on the down, but the whole hill is overgrown with gorse and bracken making everything hard to find! This pattern held for the rest of my visit, as the local commoners have taken it upon themselves to hunt down and clear the large amount of archaeology there is to be found here, from cairns and the stone circle, through reaves, right through to mortar pits, trenches and even railway making exercises carried out by the American soldiers based here before the D-Day invasions.

Headless Cross (Moretonhampstead)

Date Added: 28th Sep 2020
Site Type: Modern Stone Circle etc Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 26th Feb 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Beautiful sunny week in February, the hottest on record with 21 degrees recorded at Kew. So I decided a day on Dartmoor was required, and that I should visit Mardon Down to see the stone circle and other monuments in the vicinity, plus visit a couple of pubs. Two hours to drive down, and I was out on the moors before 12:00, having parked in a car parking area opposite what is marked as the Headless Cross. Turns out that the stone here now is a fairly modern replacement for the original stone, which was broken by either a car accident or an act of vandalism, depending on what story you see. It also seems to state that this never was a cross in the traditional sense, but probably a menhir (known as the Maximajor Stone), which acted as a guide stone in more recent times, much like many of the moorland crosses.

Dunnabridge Pound

Date Added: 27th Sep 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Now I can head back down the hillside on a decent track to Dunnabridge, passing what are probably interesting remains of Brimpts Mine, which on another less tired time I would go and explore! Once down and before walking up the road to the car park, I decide for a quick look in Dunnabridge Pound with the Judge's Chair, which once more is in dark shadow.

I get back to the car at 5:15 after walking 14.3 km and ascending 337 m of vertical, now slightly regretting cutting off the northernmost part of the walk to Postbridge, as it is so much easier on the made tracks. A damn good day out, my back and legs have been working well. Now for a pint at the Warren House Inn where I sit taking in the beautiful views over to Grimspound. Thats a walk for another day.

Laughter Tor row 2

Date Added: 27th Sep 2020
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Before leaving, I remember that there is supposedly the small remnants of another double stone row to be found a bit west of the longstone, but am not expecting to find them under the vegetation. However, before I even start my search, there they are, much nearer than I expected, and once again the ground around them has been roughly cleared. I find about half a dozen pairs of tiny stones, clearly not in alignment with either the longstone or the other stone row. Their size and spacing reminds me of Porlock row on Exmoor more than a typical Dartmoor avenue. Well that was an unexpected positive result!

Laughter Tor Longstone

Date Added: 27th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: The longstone is a lovely thing, although it has supposedly been re-erected facing the wrong way, as it does not aligned either with or against the row. Its almost 2.5 metres tall, and the views south are gorgeous, and I can see my car from here, so not far back now. Checking on the time, and I decide not to go to the top of Laughter tor, as it is lower than Bellever Tor, and the views from there cannot be much better than from here.

Laughter Tor row 1

Date Added: 27th Sep 2020
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Now I am nearly back to Dunnabridge, time to sit in the sun for a rest to take in the views and finish my supplies. Damn, I have left the fruit in the car! The stone row should be just along a bit more then up on my right. There it is, but it’s a struggle to get to it from here through the heather and gorse. The row which is a double row of some 160m in length remains with a good section at each end but with very few stones remaining in between. The bottom dozen or so of stones are clear to be found, including a possible end stone, making a double row which leads up to the hillside to the longstone, of which only the top can be seen in the distance. The track of the row has been very roughly cleared of vegetation, and although it is good to have it cleared, it looks like quite a bit of damage has been done to the ground, and possibly some of the remaining intermediate stones damaged. Most of the intermediate section of the alignment has probably been used to build the wall which I now have to cross to get to the top part, of which about a dozen stones make a reasonable section well before the longstone.

Kraps Ring

Date Added: 27th Sep 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Time is getting on, and clouds seem to be coming over, and I am getting tired. What to do now, I don't want to give up and return the way I came, but completing the planned walk will be a lot further in distance. However, most of the rest of the walk will be on marked pathways, which is probably 3 times easier than tromping over open moorland, so I decide to carry on. So I head northwards downslope to Kraps Ring, past a lovely fallen tree which is still growing from its horizontal position, the branches now turning upwards. Then there is a lovely hut circle with a tree in its entrance. Then Kraps Ring itself. For some reason I was expecting some reasonably sized earthworks (no idea why, its not what you get on Dartmoor), but what I found was large low banks of stone, no doubt from a fallen wall with remnants of many hut circles within, rather like a smaller version of Grimspound. Again, I wonder the wisdom of the full walk via Postbridge which would involve a significant loss of altitude, so I decide to make a cut eastwards through the forest along what I assume is a track, but just turns out to be a firebreak or something. However walking through the forest adjacent to the break is pleasant and easy enough, encountering all sorts of toadstools and birds in the process, until I come to a fence at the side of the road from Postbridge to Bellever which is easy enough to get through. The walk is now much easier along the bridleway across open common land to Bellever where I decide to drop down to the river for a look at the pretty old clapper bridge in a wonderful riverside area of trees and grass. There are a couple of people having a picnic, and further down the river a couple fly fishing. Apart from all the no parking cones and other signs, there are no signs of the chaos that was supposedly here a month or so ago with masses camping out in the woodland. What a beautiful and idyllic place. Back to the bridleway which climbs up through the forest to Laughter Hole with its incredible lichen covered trees, and further up and eventually out onto the open moorland below Laughter Tor.

Lakehead Cairn Circle 1

Date Added: 27th Sep 2020
Site Type: Ring Cairn Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Heading back northeast, and after disturbing something fairly large within the forest edge, I proceed to what is marked as "Cairn Circle". I find a ring of 13 small pale stones, about 6 m in diameter. Nothing much to be found within the circle except for one other flat slab.

Lakehead Hill 2

Date Added: 27th Sep 2020
Site Type: Cist Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Head west from the stone row, and right at the edge of the forest is found Cairn 2, marked by the OS as "Cist". What I find is a fairly large cist box standing proud of the ground, with nothing too obvious of a cairn or circle surrounding it.

Lakehead Hill W

Date Added: 27th Sep 2020
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: I now head north to the top of the hill, where a single stone row of about a dozen stones heads east to west across the hilltop. There is no obvious cairn, but at the western end the stone is facing across the rline of the row as if to be a Blocking Stone.

Lakehead Hill 5

Date Added: 27th Sep 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Just to the north of Cairn 6 is Cairn 5, again a nice circle of 10 pale slabs with a diameter about 7m, slightly larger than cairn 6, as are the stones. There is no signs of a cist within the circle, but a few slabs to the southeast which may have made up part of a row to the cairn.

Lakehead Hill 6

Date Added: 27th Sep 2020
Site Type: Cairn Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: I now wander out onto the open hilltop and head soutwest towards carins 5 and 6 marked as "Cairn Circle and Cist" on the OS map, but am initially mislead by a large post which does not mark them before finding the pair of cairns with their small marker! The southern of the two cairn circles consists of 10 pale stones standing in a circle of about 6m diameter surrounding a fairly large flat stone, probably a capstone for a cist, but I can see nothing underneath. It once supposedly had a stone row leading away to the southeast.

Lakehead Hill E

Date Added: 27th Sep 2020
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2020. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Carry on northwards and then left in the scrubby gap between the forest trees to what the OS mark as "Cairn Circle & Cist". A path leads on westwards and then there it is, the coverstar of the Lakehead Hill sites. A short stone row leads westwards to a large rectangular box structure, all in a very nicely tended open area. I suspect this has all been "restored", but it does look very pretty in the afternoon sunshine. These days eleven stones make the row leading westwards to the cist, with a kink in the middle. The cist is a large box structure, much bigger than most of the cists on Dartmoor, and I think could be considered more of a burial chamber. This is partially surrounded by a circle of half a dozen small stones, although this has probably not been reconstructed very accurately. I like it.