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 and standing stones provide rare evidence of ceremonial or
ritual practices on the Moor during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age. The
stones east of Hangershell Rock are particularly significant as they are
associated with a group of ceremonial and funerary monuments on Butterdon
Hill which includes a stone alignment, a cist and several cairns.
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 2500 BC).
These two recumbent stones east of Hangershell Rock are considered to be
part of a stone alignment, which may not have been completed, the two
megaliths are 55m apart, with traces of smaller stones between them. The
western stone is 6.4m long and has a maximum width of 1.93m and a thickness of
0.76m, the eastern stone is 5.4m long and has a maximum width of 0.7m and a
thickness of 0.5m. They lie in an area of grassland largely devoid of stone,
and are orientated east/west towards the Butterdon stone alignment 250m to the
west.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
10549
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
