Dartmoor

Dartmoor is a National Park in the centre of the English county of Devon. It covers 368 square miles (953 km²).

Pre-history

The majority of the prehistoric remains on Dartmoor date back to the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. Indeed, Dartmoor contains the largest concentration of Bronze Age remains in the United Kingdom, which suggests that this was when a larger population moved onto the hills of Dartmoor.

Related Topics:
Neolithic - Bronze Age

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The climate at the time was warmer than today, and much of today's moorland was covered with trees. The prehistoric settlers began clearing the forest, and established the first farming communities.

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The nature of the soil, which is highly acidic, means that no organic remains have survived. However, by contrast, the high durability of the natural granite means that their homes and monuments are still to be found in abundance, as are their flint tools.

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Numerous menhirs (more usually referred to locally as standing stones or longstones), stone circles, kistvaens, cairns and stone rows are to be found on the moor. The most significant sites include:

Related Topics:
Menhir - Standing stone - Stone circle - Kistvaen - Cairn - Stone row

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• Beardown Man, near Devil’s Tor - isolated standing stone (3.5m high, said to have another 1m below ground). {{gbmapping|SX596796}}
• Challacombe, near the prehistoric settlement of Grimspound - triple stone row. {{gbmapping|SX689807}}
• Drizzlecombe, east of Sheepstor village - stone circles, rows, standing stones, kistvaens and cairns. {{gbmapping|SX591669}}
• Grey Wethers, near Postbridge - double circle, aligned almost exactly north south. {{gbmapping|SX638831}}
• Laughter Tor, near Two Bridges - standing stone (2.4m high) and two double stone rows (one 164m long). {{gbmapping|SX652753}}
• Merrivale, between Princetown and Tavistock - includes a double stone row (182m long, 1.1m wide, aligned almost exactly east-west), stone circles and a kistvaen. {{gbmapping|SX554747}}
• Scorhill, west of Chagford - circle (26.8m in circumference) and stone rows. {{gbmapping|SX654873}}
• Shovel Down, north of Fernworthy reservoir - double stone row (approx 120m long). {{gbmapping|SX660859}}

There are also an estimated 5,000 hut circles still surviving today, despite the fact that many have been raided over the centuries by the builders of the traditional dry stone walls. These are the remnants of Bronze Age houses. The smallest are around 6ft (1.8m) in diameter, and the largest may be up to five times this size.

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Some have L-shaped porches to protect against wind and rain - some particularly good examples are to be found at Grimspound. It is believed that they would have had a conical roof, supported by timbers and covered in turf or thatch.

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