Reasons for Designation
Dartmoor is the largest expanse of open moorland in southern Britain and,
because of exceptional conditions of preservation, it is also one of the most
complete examples of an upland relict landscape in the whole country. The
great wealth and diversity of archaeological remains provide direct evidence
for human exploitation of the Moor from the early prehistoric period onwards.
The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites,
major land boundaries, trackways, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as
later industrial remains, gives significant insights into successive changes
in the pattern of land use through time. Stone alignments or stone rows
consist of upright stones set in single file or in avenues of two or more
parallel lines, up to several hundred metres in length. They are often
physically linked to burial monuments, such as small cairns, cists and
barrows, and are considered to have had an important ceremonial function. The
Dartmoor alignments mostly date from the Late Neolithic period (c.2400-2000
BC). Some eighty examples, most of them on the outer Moor, provide over half
the recorded national population. Due to their comparative rarity and
longevity as a monument type, all surviving examples are considered nationally
important, unless very badly damaged.
Details
This monument is situated on a broad ridge between Cocks Hill and White Tor
and includes a stone alignment, cairn and part of a hollow way called the
Lichway. The stone alignment includes a 128m long, single row of twenty-seven
stones, although only thirteen remain in place and these have an average
height of 0.19m. The spacing between the stones is intermittent as a result
of either partial robbing or some of the smaller ones being buried below the
present day ground surface due to peat accumulation. The downslope terminal
stone lies at the southern end of the stone alignment and measures 2.95m high,
0.75m wide and 0.4m thick. This stone was re-erected by the Dartmoor
Exploration Committee in 1893. At the northern end of the stone alignment is
a round cairn. The cairn mound measures 5m in diameter and stands up to 0.4m
high. A hollow in the centre of the mound suggests previous robbing or
partial early excavation. A hollow way measuring 4m wide and 0.4m deep, known
as the Lichway, passes between the downslope terminal stone and the remainder
of the alignment. This trackway leads across Dartmoor towards Lydford and is
known to have been the route used to carry the dead to the parish church in
the early medieval period.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
20399
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
