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 provides 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 provide rare evidence of ceremonial or ritual practices on
the Moor during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age. This alignment is
particularly significant as it is associated with several well-preserved
cairns and other stone alignments on either side of the West Glaze Brook.
Details
Stone alignments or stone rows consist of upright stones set in single line
or in two or more parallel lines, up to several hundred metres in length.
They frequently lead to burial monuments such as small cairns, cists and
barrows and are therefore thought to have had a ceremonial function. The 70
or so examples known on Dartmoor were probably constructed in the Late
Neolithic period (around 2500 BC).
This double stone alignment is sited on the east side of the East Glaze
Brook and runs for c.130m north-east/south-west from a terminal cairn
towards the stream bank, where it is crossed by a disused leat and by the
Corringdon Leat, both of which have disturbed it. Over forty stones remain,
thirty set upright and a further fifteen fallen. The stones are up to 0.7m
in height; the rows are c.0.7m apart and the stones which remain in position
suggest a spacing of c.1.5m. There is a terminal stone at the south-western
end and the rows appear to align with the stone settings on the west side of
the East Glaze Brook, less than 100m away. The terminal cairn at the
northern end of the double alignment is a turf and heather- covered mound
15m in diameter and 0.4m in height. Elements of two concentric rings of
stone which can be traced within the body of the mound probably acted as
retaining kerbs.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
10570
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
