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, such as Stalldown, with its associated cairns, provide
rare evidence of ceremonial or ritual practices on the Moor during the Late
Neolithic and Bronze Age.
Details
Stone alignments or stone rows consist of upright stones set in single line
or in two or more parallel lines, up to a few 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).
This alignment runs for 500m in a roughly north-south direction from the
top of Stalldown. It is closely associated with three lateral cairns, one of
which is defined by a fine retaining kerb. Many of the stones have been
restored in the past and may not be exactly as originally positioned. They
are mostly 1 to 1.5m high with four over 2m at the northern end, where
they are also more widely spaced. One cairn lies 28m to the west towards
the northern end, the second lies 41m to the east a little further south
and the retaining kerb of the third, lies on the alignment further south.
The complex lies in area heavily cut for peat.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
10509
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
