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Dartmoor Guide: Chagford Common

Guide to the Monuments on Chagford Common

Chagford Common

Table of Ritual and Burial Monuments on Chagford Common

The following table lists the records currently in this Guide Map. For an explantion of the Guide Maps and a table of all 62 Guide Maps, follow this link: Guide List Table. Introductory text will be added to each guide list in 2025. Notes on duplication and omissions will appear below the table once checks have been finalised.


Guide #ButlerSiteIDSite NameShortNameRecord SourceMapTurnerHERPhotoUnique?Checked
125.9144Hurston Ridge Stone RowSR HurstonPDWSX6726082437 MDV6541YUnique1
225.912Hurston Ridge Standing StoneSS HurstonPDWSX6726882444 MDV6541YUnique1
325.91108Hurston Ridge Stone Row CairnCN HurstonRowButlerSX6726682438 MDV61939YUnique1
44195Hurston Ridge CairnCN:HurstonHERSX6766083500 MDV61934NUnique1
525.9637Hurston Ridge SettlementST HurstonPDWSX6740082500 MDV6668YUnique1
625.11423West Vitifer CistCT WestVitif 1ButlerSX6757582802 MDV6615YUnique1
73055West Vitifer (duplicate) Reported CairnCT?WestVitif 2NMRSX6750082600 n/a NDuplicate1
84153Lowton Brook Reported CairnCN:Lowton BkHERSX6690082870 MDV54605NUnique1
9633Lowton Brook W. SettlementST:LowtonBkWPDWSX6630083400 MDV104672NUnique1
102610Chagford Common 6 Reported CairnCN:Chagford 6GrinsellSX6750083000 MDV13039NDuplicate1
1223.532Shapley Common Standing StoneSS ShapleyPMDSX6999282248 n/a YUnique1
1323.5.11098Shapley Common 1 CairnCN:Shapley 1ButlerSX6969082760 MDV64821NUnique1
1423.5.21099Shapley Common 2 CairnCN:Shapley 2ButlerSX6986982580 MDV6726NUnique1

Notes on possible duplications and omissions

Chagford Common cairns 1-5 NB. These feature on Guide 20 - Guide to the Monuments on Thornworthy and Metherall

Leapra Rings NB. This entry was just added and there is not a problem with it, this is just a reminder to the author to take a look!

PS. These notes are to assist untangling complicated records and are neither permanent nor a criticism of the HER who do a fantastic job! The author finds it easier to systematically work through these records (2000+ of them) and add these notes, which are then to be communicated with the HER, if appropriate, it is a pragmatic way of dealing with lots of data without continually stopping and starting.

Chagford Common Guide Map

Guidance for walkers: The monuments featured in this database are archaeological treasures and need to be protected and preserved - please do not disturb any sites. Please check access and firing times before visiting sites, not all sites listed are on open access land. Firing ranges and boundaries of open access areas are marked on the OL28 OS Dartmoor Explorer map. Please stick to the country code and consider giving support to the numerous agencies that help to keep Dartmoor a fabulous natural and historic environment!



List of Ritual and Burial Monuments on Chagford Common

Hurston Ridge Stone Row

Hurston Ridge Stone Row

OS Map: SX 67260 82437
NMR record: SX 68 SE 10
HER record: MDV6541
Megalithic Portal: 8345
The Stone Rows of GB: Hurston Ridge
PMD: Hurston Ridge Stone Row
ShortName: SR Hurston
Butler map: 25.9
Butler Vol 5: p.228 & Fig.161
DPD page: 136
Notes: .Worth: Watern Hill. "A stone alignment which includes two parallel lines of upright stones leading downslope for 143 metres from a round cairn. The lower end of the alignment is denoted by a blocking stone. Midway along the alignment a length of later enclosure walling crosses the row. The cairn at the upper end of the alignment measures 5.9 metres in diameter and stands up to a height of 0.6 metres. A large slab denoting the north eastern edge of the cairn may represent a second blocking stone of the associated alignment. A cinerary urn was found in the cairn." A number of the stones were restored to their original sockets in 1894. A broken hand axe was discovered in the pit in which one of the stones had stood near to the menhir next to the cairn.
Nearby sites: SX67268244

Hurston Ridge Standing Stone

Hurston Ridge Standing Stone

OS Map: SX 67268 82444
NMR record: SX 68 SE 10
HER record: MDV6541
Megalithic Portal: 8345
PMD: Hurston Ridge Standing Stone
ShortName: SS Hurston
Butler map: 25.9
DPD page: 136
Notes: Hurston Ridge is one of the best examples of a double stone now on Dartmoor. At the south end is a cairn 22feet in diameter. The space between the rows widens intentionally as it approaches the cairn. The first stone from the south in the eastern row is the largest stone and stands 5 feet 10 inches high. Crossing suggests this may have been the original Heath Stone. A cinerary urn, in fragments except for the rim, was discovered in the cairn in 1900. Restored, the urn, 18 3/4 inches high, 16 inches in diameter at the rim and 8 inches in diameter at the base was revealed as an unusually large and handsome bipartite Overhanging rim or crowned urn of Middle Bronze Age type.
Nearby sites: SX67278244

Hurston Ridge Stone Row Cairn

Hurston Ridge Stone Row Cairn

OS Map: SX 67266 82438
NMR record: SX 68 SE 10
HER record: MDV61939
PMD: Hurston Ridge Stone Row
ShortName: CN HurstonRow
Butler map: 25.9
Butler Vol 5: p.221 & Fig.154
Grinsell: CHA 5
Notes: The cairn at the upper end of the alignment measures 5.9 metres in diameter and stands up to a height of 0.6 metres. A large slab denoting the north eastern edge of the cairn may represent a second blocking stone of the associated alignment. A cinerary urn was found in the cairn. "The cairn has been throughly rifled ... It's shape is irregular ... but with no sign of the cist at one time visible here" (Butler Vol 2 p.30).
Nearby sites: SX67278244

Hurston Ridge Cairn

OS Map: SX 67660 83500
NMR: No record found
HER record: MDV61934
ShortName: CN:Hurston
Nearby sites: SX67668350

Hurston Ridge Settlement

Hurston Ridge Settlement

OS Map: SX 67400 82500
NMR record: SX 68 SE 9
HER record: MDV6668
Megalithic Portal: 34979
ShortName: ST Hurston
Butler map: 25.9
Nearby sites: SX67408250

West Vitifer Cist

West Vitifer Cist

OS Map: SX 67575 82802
NMR record: SX 68 SE 7
HER record: MDV6615
Megalithic Portal: 34980
PMD: Chagford Common
ShortName: CT WestVitif 1
Butler map: 25.11
Grinsell: CHA 4
Barrow Report: 16
Notes: "Possible location of a Bronze Age cist, although when subject to field investigation in November 2002 the site was not found" "The cairn was partially excavated in 1897 by the Barrow Committee of the Devonshire Association. This working revealed a ring of slabs surrounding a cist which had not been previously examined. In the cist there was a complete Bronze Age beaker together with charcoal but no trace of a burial." Cairn survives, restored urn thought to be in Plymouth museum. See: Sixteenth Barrow Report 1897. Butler Vol. 2. Map 25.11 ( p.32).

The author visited this site on 10 May 2024. I took photos of a possible candidate but I was unconvinced I had located the site so a wide search was undertaken of the vicinity within approx. 100 m. My initial conclusion is that the site cannot be located. However, as a desktop exercise on 23/05/24 I'm inclined to think I had actually located it. It is the dip behind the stone which appears on the RHS of the photo. This coincides within a very short distance with the location I had previously determined using satellite and also to the location given in the scheduled monument SX 67571 82800.
Nearby sites: SX67588280

West Vitifer (duplicate) Reported Cairn

OS Map: SX 67500 82600
NMR record: SX 68 SE 8
HER: No record found
ShortName: CT?WestVitif 2
Notes: Possible location of a Bronze Age cist, although when subject to field investigation in November 2002 the site was not found. This record originates with the now discontinued NMR records and is most likely a duplicate of NMR 443785 i.e HER MDV6615, see West Vitifer Cist (SiteID=423)
Nearby sites: SX67508260

Lowton Brook Reported Cairn

OS Map: SX 66900 82870
NMR record: SX 68 SE 200
HER record: MDV54605
ShortName: CN:Lowton Bk
Nearby sites: SX66908287

Lowton Brook W. Settlement

OS Map: SX 66300 83400
NMR record: SX 68 SE 66
HER record: MDV104672
Megalithic Portal: 24262
ShortName: ST:LowtonBkW
Nearby sites: SX66308340

Chagford Common 6 Reported Cairn

OS Map: SX 67500 83000
NMR: No record found
HER record: MDV13039
ShortName: CN:Chagford 6
Grinsell: CHA 10a-i
Notes: 1902 exc. Unlocated - maybe CHA 7-9
Nearby sites: SX67508300

Shapley Common Standing Stone

Shapley Common Standing Stone

OS Map: SX 69992 82248
NMR: No record found
HER: No record found
PMD: Shapley Common
ShortName: SS Shapley
Butler map: 23.5
Butler Vol 5: p.212
Notes: Possible standing stone, see Butler Vol V (1997) p 212.
Nearby sites: SX69998225

Shapley Common 1 Cairn

OS Map: SX 69690 82760
NMR record: SX 68 SE 295
HER record: MDV64821
ShortName: CN:Shapley 1
Butler map: 23.5.1
Nearby sites: SX69698276

Shapley Common 2 Cairn

OS Map: SX 69869 82580
NMR record: SX 68 SE 86
HER record: MDV6726
ShortName: CN:Shapley 2
Butler map: 23.5.2
Notes: A disturbed heather covered cairn lies on the gently sloping north east flank of Shapley Tor. The slightly ovoid mound measures 8.6 metres north to south by 8 metres and stands a maximum of 1 metres high. An ovoid hollow 2.5 metres by 3 metres and around 0.4 metres deep is visible in the centre of this feature.
Nearby sites: SX69878258

Page last updated 10/12/24