Soussons Down (Red Barrows) Stone Row

Database entries

PDW coverage: Dartmoor Site: Soussons Cairn Circle
OS Map: SX 6767 7998
OS Source: SRGB
HER: MDV6015
Megalithic Portal: 2136
The Stone Rows of GB: Soussons Down
PMD: Red Barrows Stone Row
Alternate name: Soussons Down
Short Name: SR Red Barrows
Butler map: 24.2
Exist: Yes
Record: Unique
Record Source: PDW
Hut Class: No
Dimensions (m): 62
Lidar: SX 6767 7998
Guide Map: 27
Nearest Bus Stop: Warren House Inn (1.3 km) [Route: 171]
Nearby sites: SX 6767 7998

Notes

Triple row destroyed in 1946 Butler Vol. 5 p38, Vol. 2 Map 24.2 p.19. The row was associated with a cairn about 300m north of the four Red Barrow cairn group (SX 67 NE 3). Butler mentions that some of the stones of the row remained and these were observed and reported to Sandy Gerrard by Chris Jenkins. They surveyed the site in August 2020 and they found 8 of the stones remaining. The author visited the site on 24/09/2025 with Steve Szypko. It is remarkable that anything remains as the location is so disturbed and damaged by the afforestation. We searched the area and found most of the stones reported by Gerrard and Jenkins. The montage photo is of the cairn and 5 of the stones - my right foot appears in some of the photos as a way to give scale. The author thanks Steve Szypko for assistance on this task – I would not have done it alone as the terrain is dreadful. The survey by Gerrard can be found on the linked coverage on The Stone Rows of GB website.

Not all of the damage was done in 1946. The account from the 5th DEC Report in 1898 states: Due north on the ridge near Golden Dagger is a rifled cairn 31 feet in diameter, and starting from this is a very ruined and pillaged stone row, which seems when perfect to have been composed of three lines of stones. The standing examples are small, and only seven in number, but numerous fallen and buried stones can be traced. This row has been very recently destroyed, probably within the last twelve months, for the pits from which the stones contributing to the row were taken are freshly dug and very apparent. The surface of the moor for a considerable distance around the row has been carefully picked over and almost every stone removed. A newly - built wall in the near neighbourhood is the evident reason for this destruction and collection. The former was probably done in pure ignorance, for the stones were evidently mostly fallen and small, and with the surrounding surface stones not easily recognized as the work of man. Had the Committee known of this row earlier, and set up the fallen stones, the nature of the remains would have been recognized and respected. The row runs from north to south, the ruined cairn being north, and it can be traced for 202 feet.

References

These are selected references with an emphasis on out of copyright sources linked as PDFs. For more detailed references try any linked HER or PMD record above.

• Baring-Gould, Sabine, Fifth Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, T.D.A. Vol.30 pp.97-115 (1898)
• Baring-Gould, Sabine, Ninth Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, T.D.A. Vol.35 pp.143-145 (1903)
• Butler, Jeremy, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, vol.2: The North, (1991)