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Sites Anne T has logged on trip number: 135 (View all trips)
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The Round Pound
Trip No.135 Entry No.1 Date Added: 19th Jul 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4
The Round Pound submitted by thecaptain on 23rd Oct 2004. The Round Pound, looking northwest from across the road which has been curved to pass around it.
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Log Text: Round Pound Enclosure (part of the Kes Tor Settlement): For our first stop of the day, this was only a very short walk north-eastwards from the car park, and so visible from the single track road, I was left with open-mouthed and couldn’t wait to get over to this monument to take a closer look.
With Sandy knowing this site so well, we had an almost intimate walk-round this impressive part of the Kes Tor settlement. Little did I appreciate, until we walked over the road to the east, that so much more lay in store.
A superb area, and so easy to reach!
Kestor Settlement
Trip No.135 Entry No.2 Date Added: 31st Jul 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4
Kestor Settlement submitted by thecaptain on 24th Oct 2004. View northeast from Kestor rocks overlooking Kestor Settlement. The entire hilltop and hillsides here are covered in the ancient remains of ancient huts and field systems.
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Log Text: Kestor Settlement (of which Round Pound is part of): Only across the road from the Round Pound, which I learned later was part of this settlement and not separate from it, as we walked up the slope to the east of Round Pound, I couldn’t believe the amount, and quality, of the structures that remained here.
At first, it was all a little mind-boggling, but then Sandy G produced a plan of the site, and I kept asking where we were on the plan, so I could sort my photographs accordingly. The views to the east and north east would have been quite amazing, had it not been for the mist around that day.
At home, I poured over Butler's "Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities", volume 2, pages 170 onwards, which has a map of the settlement and descriptions of the field systems and the individual houses and enclosures within it. Brilliant!
Modern Stone Circle near Kestor Rock
Trip No.135 Entry No.3 Date Added: 19th Jul 2019
Site Type: Modern Stone Circle etc
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3
Modern Stone Circle near Kestor Rock submitted by AngieLake on 27th Mar 2011. Looking over wall from south border of field. [NB: All these photos are taken from the open moor.]
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Log Text: Modern Stone Circle near Kestor Rock: As confirmed by the Dartefacts website, This stone circle is on land that used to the belong to Aid Edmundson and Jennifer Saunders. It is not recorded on Pastscape or Historic England.
The stone circle is on private land, but can be viewed over the fences to the west and southern sides.
We were also lucky enough to be with Janet Daynes and Gordon Fisher who had spent some time on this property doing excavations in years gone by. It was absolutely fascinating to hear them talk about the things they had found. Apparently the whole of the stone circle had, at one time, been surrounded by trees which had blown down or been cut down. The area is surrounded by Historic England List ID 1016691, “Coaxial field system and prehistoric settlements at Kestor”, but this area is not included in the scheduled area.
Kes Tor Rock Basin
Trip No.135 Entry No.4 Date Added: 31st Jul 2019
Site Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3
Kes Tor Rock Basin submitted by AngieLake on 28th Jul 2017. Another view of the rock basin here. Probably taken in 2002 on old film camera.
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Log Text: Kes Tor Outcrop: My fear of falling stopped me from going to the top of this amazing outcrop to see the rock basin (I saw another walker trip over and narrowly miss going over the edge whilst I was there), but I admired the outcrop from down below. I hope I can still tick this site off my Dartmoor list as having visited!
Kes Tor Cairn
Trip No.135 Entry No.5 Date Added: 31st Jul 2019
Site Type: Cairn
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3
Kes Tor Cairn submitted by davep on 31st Jul 2019. Photograph taken 16th May 2019. Kes Tor Reported Cairn from Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks (site 1923).
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Log Text: Kes Tor Cairn: As the group gathered around the western side of the tor, we saw what I initially thought was a tumble of smaller rocks from the side of the Tor, but as I walked around photographing it, thought it resembled a cairn. Walking back to join the group, Sandy and Dave were in conversation, concluding it was indeed probably a cairn. Dave took a gps with his garmin, remarkably similar to mine with my basic model, and has now included the cairn on Prehistoric Dartmoor Walks as a 'reported cairn' (site 1923).
Shovel Down Fourfold Circle
Trip No.135 Entry No.8 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 3
Shovel Down Fourfold circle submitted by simcon on 29th Aug 2003. SX659861 Shovel Down Stone Circle, Dartmoor Devon. I see this Web site lists two circles here, SE and NW. I only saw this circle which matches the description of Shovel Down SE Stone Circle. The view is looking south where the row continues to a large standing stone. Notice the two large standing stones fallen at the bottom of this picture. One has CP carved into it and the large stone over the hill has DC using the same size and style of letters. I do not know what this means. I parked in Fernw...
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Log Text: Shovel Down Fourfold Stone Circle: Again, so many monuments in such a short walk – but by now, I should have stopped being surprised! At Kes Tor, Sandy G had spotted AngieLake, who had arrived a little later than us at the car park, and who had wandered about looking for us. By this time, it was lunchtime, and we were pleased to re-group and sit and take a welcome break, using the two large stones as the head of row 2 as a convenient picnic spot.
Whilst everyone was sharing out their sandwiches and tea/coffee, I took a few minutes to try and photograph the small-ish stones of the fourfold stone circle, largely hidden by the grassy tussocks, but none-the-less still recognisable as a kerbed cairn, although a little similar (if smaller) than Yellowmead.
With its proximity to row 2 and row 4, and other rows and features I'd not yet seen, this was an amazing spot.
Shovel Down row 2
Trip No.135 Entry No.9 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 3
Shovel Down row 2 submitted by AngieLake on 27th Oct 2004. Looking in the opposite direction from Simcon's picture, the fallen portals are in the foreground of this photo and show the avenue leading up to them, and to the concentric circle or cairn.
(Taken on cheap single-use camera, as were the recent Scorhill postings)
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Log Text: Shovel Down Row 2 with fallen standing stones: We enjoyed a much welcome lunch break at the two pillar stones at the head (southern end) of row 2. Angie got some photographs of Andy B sitting on the larger of the two pillars, and later I wished I’d have stood over her shoulder to get similar shots.
I didn’t walk to the northern most end of this stone circle, as I thought we proposed to visit it on the way back to the car park, but we took a slightly different route, so didn’t see the stones at its other terminus.
By this time of the day, the number of monuments we'd seen already was getting a little overwhelming (so many in such a relatively small piece of moorland), I was really glad I’ been very careful to write down the numbers of the photographs I’d taken for each monument, making it easier to sort the photos out into ‘which monument was which’ that evening.
Shovel Down row 3
Trip No.135 Entry No.10 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3
Shovel Down row 3 submitted by thecaptain on 16th Oct 2004. Shovel Down row 3 lseen here looking south from the northern part.
The row continues over the crest in the foreground and down into the dip, where it ends beside the Fourfold Circle.
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Log Text: Shovel Down Row 3: To the west of stone row 2, and to the north of row 4, there was not much left to see of this row, which I tried to trace (without much success due to the high, tussocky grass on this part of the moor) as we walked down towards the stone circle.
Now writing up my photojournal, I’m pleased to see that Sandy G’s photographs, whilst showing a lot more stones, are a little similar to mine, largely showing the tops of stones peeking out of the grass. Good job for our superb guide, who pointed out the row to me.
Shovel Down stone circle
Trip No.135 Entry No.11 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3
Shovel Down stone circle submitted by thecaptain on 13th Oct 2004. Two of the remaining standing stones viewed looking east.
The northern end of row 3 is just down to the right of this picture somewhere.
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Log Text: Shovel Down Stone Circle: Before we visited this site, I thought there would be nothing to see, but I was wrong. Whilst there are just three stones remaining, they appear to the eye to sit along the arc of a circle. However, the authenticity of this stone circle is queried by Pastscape.
The stones are sited in deep, tussocky grass, I was very pleased to be able to reach this stone circle, not far off the main footpath, using my walking poles to balance.
Our GPS recorded the three stones at:
SX 65830 86187, SX 65822 86196 and SX 65823 86199
Shovel Down row 1
Trip No.135 Entry No.12 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 3 Access 3
Shovel Down row 1 submitted by thecaptain on 14th Oct 2004. Shovel Down row 1.
At the northern end of this ruinous single stone row can be seen a few stones larger than the majority of theose remaining. Most of the remaining stones are very small and difficult to spot under the grass
This view is looking southwards along the general direction of the row.
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Log Text: Shovel Down Row 1: My goodness, this row was difficult to spot! Thank goodness for Sandy’s patience, his wellington boots and his pole in pointing out a few of the stones!
Shovel Down row 5
Trip No.135 Entry No.13 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3
Shovel Down row 5 submitted by thecaptain on 15th Oct 2004. Shovel Down Row 5.
Although most of the stones in this avenue are either small or have been removed, traces of the row can be seen right to the Longstone.
View looking southwest at the lower end of the row, with Fernworthy forest in the distance.
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Log Text: Shovel Down Row 5: Having been a little mystified by trying to find Rows 3 and 1, and having to rely on Sandy G to point out a few of the ground-level small stones, to find this stone row, running towards the Longstone, was really good. Glorious views over to Kes Tor, although it was still a little misty to get great photos.
The Longstone (Shovel Down)
Trip No.135 Entry No.14 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3
The Longstone (Shovel Down) submitted by cazzyjane on 16th Apr 2012. The longstone at Shovel Down with Kestor Rock behind.
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Log Text: The Longstone: A welcoming standing stone, very prominent in the landscape, sitting between rows 5 and 6. I had fun posing the group for photographs around the stone.
Shovel Down row 6
Trip No.135 Entry No.15 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 3 Access 3
Shovel Down row 6 submitted by thecaptain on 15th Oct 2004. Shovel Down Row 6
View looking south towards the Three Boys Stone. Fernworthy forest in the distance.
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Log Text: Shovel Down Row 6: Nothing is visible of this row now, although we walked down the line of the row to get to the Three Boys.
Three Boys
Trip No.135 Entry No.16 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 3
Three Boys submitted by thecaptain on 15th Oct 2004. Nearly 2 metres long, this fairly large, almost fallen stone was probably once a blocking stone at the southern end of Shovel Down row 6.
Viewed looking northwest with a row 6 stone under the gorsebush
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Log Text: Three Boys: This was our last stop of the three days, and a lot of a let-down as someone had very recently used this stone as a toilet and left a great deal of white toilet paper around it. Yeuk! I think Gordon and/or Dave may have reported this to the authorities to clear up.
After this, we walked steadily back to the car park, took a few final photographs of the group altogether, using Janet and Gordon’s camera on my tripod on a timed setting. Then Andy, Dave, Andrew and myself headed back to Princetown to look inside the Visitor Centre.
High Moorland Visitor Centre
Trip No.135 Entry No.17 Date Added: 1st Aug 2019
Site Type: Museum
Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 16th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
High Moorland Visitor Centre submitted by AngieLake on 5th Feb 2011. A modern replica of a pot from the recent Bellever hut circle excavations. Made by a local lady potter and displayed in the 'Going for Bronze' exhibition in summer 2010.
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Log Text: Thornworthy Cist and Ter Hill Cross, Princetown National Park Visitor Centre: We had about 15 minutes before the centre closed on the Thursday, so we flew in with Dave Parks for me to see and photograph the Thornworthy Cist and the Ter Hill Cross. There was scaffolding around the back of the building, so I used this to step onto the weedy garden to photograph the cist slab from the top.
By the time I'd taken some photographs, I was being ushered out of the garden as they wanted to close the centre for the night, but I was bid 'you are more than welcome to come back tomorrow if you can".