Ancient Monuments

History on the Ground

This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.

Stone alignment and cairn 800m SSW of Yardworthy

A Scheduled Monument in Chagford, Devon

We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.

Coordinates

Latitude: 50.6441 / 50°38'38"N

Longitude: -3.8739 / 3°52'26"W

OS Eastings: 267601.119093

OS Northings: 84392.708735

OS Grid: SX676843

Mapcode National: GBR Q9.TSQ1

Mapcode Global: FRA 27SC.LLX

Entry Name: Stone alignment and cairn 800m SSW of Yardworthy

Scheduled Date: 9 February 2001

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1019215

English Heritage Legacy ID: 28754

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Chagford

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Church of England Parish: Chagford St Michael

Church of England Diocese: Exeter

Details

The monument includes a double stone alignment and cairn situated on a gentle
east facing slope overlooking the valley of the South Teign river. The cairn
measures 4m long by 2.8m wide and stands up to 0.4m high. The double stone
alignment leads north eastward from the cairn. The north western row includes
at least four stones standing up 0.09m high, whilst only one stone in the
south eastern row is visible.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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 provide 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 or stone rows
consist of upright stones set in single file or in avenues of two or more
parallel lines, up to several hundred metres in length. They are often
physically linked to burial monuments, such as small cairns, cists and
barrows, and are considered to have had an important ceremonial function. The
Dartmoor alignments mostly date from the Late Neolithic period (c.2400-2000
BC). Some eighty examples, most of them on the outer Moor, provide over half
the recorded national population. Due to their comparative rarity and
longevity as a monument type, all surviving examples are considered nationally
important, unless very badly damaged.

The double stone alignment and cairn 800m SSW of Yardworthy survive
comparatively well and together illustrate the small size of some examples of
this type of monument. Both the cairn and alignment will contain
archaeological and environmental information that will help to understand this
apparently unusual site.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX68SE148, (1995)

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

AncientMonuments.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact AncientMonuments.uk for any queries related to any individual ancient or schedued monument, planning permission related to scheduled monuments or the scheduling process itself.

AncientMonuments.uk is a Good Stuff website.