Stone alignment and retaining kerb on Burford Down

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 aligments provide rare evidence of ceremonial or ritual practices on the Moor during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age. Burford Down is a good surviving example of its kind with a terminal retaining kerb and cairn remains at the southern end.

Details

Stone alignments or stone rows consist of upright stones set in a 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 2,500 BC). The Burford Down stone alignment has been traced for 450m, from the retaining kerb at the southern terminal north into Yadsworthy newtake. The alignment incorporates at least 100 stones, many upright or tilted and up to 0.8m high. Though robbing has occurred, particularly near the newtake wall, the spacing of the stones is considered to have averaged 1.5m. There is no northern terminal, but the alignment can be traced over 80m beyond the newtake wall. The retaining kerb consists of six standing and seven fallen stones giving a diameter of 10m. The cairn mound is hollow in the centre and a maximum 0.6m high.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

10527

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Davidson, C J, Seabrook, R A G, Proc. Devon Arch. Soc. in Stone Rings on South East Dartmoor, Vol. 31, (1973), 28
Emmett, D D, Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings in Stone Rows: The Traditional View Reconsidered, Vol. 37, (1979), 111

Other
SX66SW-076,
SX66SW-076-01,

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