:”They are formed by a number of small reaves, much overgrown, which intersect each other at right angles, and in the spaces thus formed there are a few hut circles. These also occur on the outside of the low walls.”, Crossing, 1990. p.330. So speaks William Crossing about Foales Arrishes …
Read More »Fernworthy Circle
‘A rough road leads from the farm (Fernworthy) on to the Moor. Here, on a level piece of ground, we shall descry a fine sacred circle, which although smaller than that of Scorhill Down is more perfect. The stones are about three feet high, and resemble, though their height is …
Read More »Erme Pound
‘Gradually we drop down to the Erme, and not far south of the point where the Redlake joins that river shall discover Erme Pound, a circular enclosure of rough granite, formerly the South Quarter enclosure for estrays.’, (Page, 1895, p.256). Erme Pound, the name sounds as if it is the …
Read More »Emmets Post
For those who do not hail from Cornwall firstly let me explain why there are ants crawling all over this page for Emmet’s Post. The word Emmet derives from the old Anglo Saxon word æmette which mean ‘ant’ and is used by the Cornish to rudely describe holiday makers or …
Read More »Eastern Whittabarrow
Dartmoor is renown as being a wet place but the water levels are not deep enough to submerge a submarine so why should there be a page on the Dartmoor ‘Submarine’ and why is it included in the Ancient Monuments category? On a clear day stand on any high promontory …
Read More »Dunnabridge Pound
This has got to be one of the easiest sites to visit on Dartmoor, you nearly don’t have to get out of the car. But don’t be fooled, just because it is adjacent to a road its history dips way back into the Bronze Age. English Heritage lists Dunnabridge as …
Read More »Druids
If the early antiquarians are to be believed then Dartmoor was a land of sacred oak groves, druidical temples, and places of deep mystery. Many of the stranger physical features of the moor have been said to have been the work of these ancient priests. Today, vestiges of their presence …
Read More »Drizzlecombe Inigma
Down in the Drizzlecombe Valley are the remnants of a prehistoric ritual centre comprising of standing stones, a stone, row, barrows and kistvaens. For thousands of years these ancient granite stones have held the secrets of the old men of the moor. Throughout the millennia they have silently stood in …
Read More »Deadman’s Bottom
There is one place on Dartmoor that when in company and responding to the question: ‘where have you been today‘ will always get a snigger, namely: ‘up the Deadman’s Bottom‘. This by no means infers that you have both homosexual and necrophilic tendencies but simply that you have been walking …
Read More »Dancers & Pipers
Here are two short legends very similar to the Nine Maidens, both on the lines of youngsters breaking the Sabbath and being turned to stone for their troubles. The Legend of the Dancers. A group of youngsters went up on Stall Moor to have what would have been the equivalent …
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