Nine Stones, Belstone Cairn Circle
Photo taken on 09-06-2013
Photos by RHW. Barrow Report 42. TDA Vol.55 1923
Database entries
PDW coverage: Dartmoor Site: Nine Maidens Cairn Circle, Belstone Tor
OS Map: SX 61232 92849
OS Source: Google
Butler OS: SX61249284
HER: MDV6865
Megalithic Portal: 535
PMD: The Nine Stones
Alternate name: Nine Stones
Short Name: CC Nine Stones
Butler map: 40.13
Grinsell: BELSTONE 1
Turner: G23
DPD page: 156
Exist: Yes
Record: Unique
Record Source: Butler
Hut Class: No
Cist Class: Maybe
Cairn Class: Yes
Barrow Report: 21 42
Dimensions (m): 7.2 x 0.6
Lidar: SX 61232 92849
Guide Map: 2
Nearest Bus Stop (Minor): Belstone Car Park (1.7 km) [Route: 670]
Nearest Bus Stop (Major): Belstone Tongue End Cross (2.3 km) [Route: 178,670,671,6A]
Nearby sites: SX 61232 92849
Notes
The "Nine Stones" cairn circle "survives as a ring of at least 16 upright stones, standing up to 0.7 metres high, surrounding a slightly raised 7 metre diameter internal area". "A loose granite boulder in the centre of the circle may cover a cist; and there are vestiges of a mound around it. Well preserved." See also, Legendary Dartmoor: The Nine MaidensGrinsell [Folklore 1976]: The retaining circle of a cairn, of which seventeen stones are now visible. Maidens turned into stone for dancing on the Sabbath, they still dance at noon. King 1850; Cresswell 1924,58; St Leger Gordon 1972, 70. There is a poetic version in Eden Phillpotts, Book of Avis .
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.
- Burnard, Robert, Notes on Dartmoor Kistvaens, T.D.A. Vol.22 pp.200-207 (1890)
- Butler, Jeremy, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, vol.2: The North, (1991)
- Chudleigh, J, An Exploration of Dartmoor's Antiquities, (1892)
- Grinsell, L.V., Grinsell, Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in England, (1976)
- Grinsell, L.V., Dartmoor Barrows, Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings No.36 (1978)
- Lukis, W.C, Report on the Monuments of Dartmoor, Proceeding of the Society of Antiquaries Vol.8 (1881)
- Prowse, Arthur B., Notes on the Neighbourhood of Taw Marsh, North Dartmoor, T.D.A. Vol.22 pp.185-199 (1890)
- Turner, J.R., Ring Cairns, stone circles and related monuments on Dartmoor, D.A.S.P. No.48 pp.27-86 (1990)
- Worth, R. Hansford, Barrow Report 21, T.D.A. Vol.34 pp.104- 146 (1902)
- Worth, R. Hansford, Barrow Report 42, T.D.A. Vol.55 pp.49-50 (1923)