Scorhill Stone Circle

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Sometimes known as the ‘Stonehenge of Dartmoor’ this Bronze age circle does not amazingly ‘dance’ in fact it remains very static. It does share a story of the 'Faithless Wives of Chagford' with the nearby Tolmen Stone and the Grey Wethers. But however there are several reports of horse riders who can never get their horses to go through the circle. The circle was said to have been the home of fierce ogre who had a passion for sheep and any that strayed near would be killed, butchered and eaten. Although not a ‘legend’ I have included this site because of a personal experience in 1996. On a hot summers day I was passing the circle and stopped for drink when I noticed a adder slithering across the circle. When it reached the edge it appeared to have met an invisible wall because try as it might it just could not pass out of the circle no matter where it attempted to cross. The snake seemed totally disorientated and lost. In the end with the aid of my stick I gave it a helping hand and it soon took off skyward to the safety of the nearby tussocks.

A modern happening reported in 1998 was that a small herd of moorland ponies were seen to walk up to the circle. The herd leader entered the ring of stones and stood there for about a minute, it then rejoined the rest of the ponies. One by one all the ponies did the same thing, went into the circle stood there for 30 - 60 seconds and the came out. All the animals faced the same direction whilst they were stood in the stone ring. It was suggested at the time that the ponies were 'taking energy' from the stones - who knows?

A story which possibly reinforces the 'natural energy' theory is that of a lady who for six and a half years had suffered with a swelling in the knee. This made walking difficult to say the least. Many doctors had examined the joint but none were able to solve the problem. Living in the Chagford area the woman was aware of the stories relating to Scorhill circle, so one day she made a slow and painful trip up to the stones.  Having sat inside the circle for a while she then made her way back, by the time she had reached Scorhill Gate the swelling had reduced by 50%. By and by the ability to walk soon returned and the swelling has caused few problems ever since.

Sadly the location of this stone circle has been its downfall because of its ease of access. Many of the stones show signs of being split. One stone on the south western side still has a line of 'jumper' holes running down its centre. These holes represent the early way of splitting stones. A row of holes would be made in the rock and then metal wedges (jumpers) would be hammered into them. This would then split the rock along the plane of the holes. A nearby leat also shows signs of having been repaired with slabs from the stone circle. The circle has been visited many times over the ages and from most of the records it seems that much of the damage was done prior to the early 18th century. It is estimated that originally the circle consisted of about 60 stones. Today there are 23 of the remaining 34 stones still standing in the true circle which is 27m across. Within the vicinity of the circle is evidence of a burial cairn, a kistvaen with a retaining circle and a double stone row. Scorhill is one of a group of seven circles that are aligned in a curve around the north eastern fringes of the moor. The intervals between them are between 1.25km and 2km. This constancy would suggest that they were built as part of a specific plan designed to produce a ritual landscape, Butler, 1991, p.192.

If you take the route from Batworthy to Scorhill circle it is worth taking a slight detour up onto Chagford common. For there you will see in a field beside the wall another stone circle. I first noticed this last year and was puzzled to say the least. I had never read of this stone circle or seen it on any map and it transpires that it is a modern circle built a few years ago by the landowner. As shown below, the circle looks very authentic and could easily be mistaken for a Bronze Age construction. I wonder how long before this circle earns itself a legend?

Bibliography.

Butler, J. 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, Devon Books, Exeter.