Buttern Hill 2 Reported Stone Circle

Database entries

OS Map: SX 64882 88469
OS Source: Garmin
HER: MDV4392
Megalithic Portal: 725
PMD: Buttern Hill W
Alternate name: Buttern Hill 2
Short Name: SC:Buttern 2
Exist: Yes
Record: Unique
Record Source: HER
Hut Class: No
Dimensions (m): 20
Lidar: SX 64882 88469
Guide Map: 8
Nearest Bus Stop (Minor): Wonson Telephone Box (3.5 km) [Route: 670]
Nearest Bus Stop (Major): Ramsley (4.7 km) [Route: 670,671,6A]
Nearby sites: SX 64882 88469

Notes

R.N. Worth Throwleigh (i.e.Buttern) circle is also noteworthy for having a companion, a short distance on the slope to the westward. The existence of this circle has not been put on record until now, and indeed it might well escape observation, seeing that there are only four certain stones still standing, with possibly a fifth, and that the remainder have disappeared. This circle was clearly not less than 60 feet in diameter. There is a very large block of irregular outline within its limits, which at one time may have stood fully six feet high. Menhirs occur in circles in Cornwall.

There is an arrangement of stones a very short distance from the Buttern Stone Circle see waypoint graphic. Whether or not this is the feature referred to by R.N. Worth is unclear. This could be a natural arrangement of stones but some look artificially set. To the author it is a possible stone circle of diameter 20-25 metres - or 65 to 80 feet. The size fits the description by R. N. Worth but the menhir is missing.

The HER also has the following entry but the distance North West is a long way off and more like the location of Kennon Hill Reported Circle 2.

HER: Possible circle circa 180 metres north-west of the Buttern Hill circle comprising four or five stones around a fallen standing stone. Recorded by Worth (1894) and apparently seen by the Ordnance Survey in 1950, although the recorder in 1951 could not locate it, this feature has not been confirmed since 1950.

Robert Naylor has made the author aware of the entry on Bill Radcliffe's PMD linked above and also an entry on the Megalithic Portal from The Captain (linked above). The Captain says:

Quote: Is there anything left to see today of the possible remains of Buttern Hill (W) circle? I saw a couple of slightly erect stones a bit further to the north of the main circle, on the far side of the valley. So I went for a look. I found a couple of edge set stones, spaced about the same as the main circle, with other fallen stones and buried stones which could be considered to be a part of a circle, at position SX 6486 8855. But I was not convinced.

The account from Breton (p.55) echoes and probably repeats that from R. N. Worth: Throwleigh Circle is also famous for having a companion a short distance on the slope to the Westward. The late R.N. worth was the first to discover this circle [...] This second Throwleigh Circle has a diameter of 60 ft., and and only about 4 stones are still standing. Within the circle is a fallen menhir, which must have stood 6 ft. high. Boscawen 'Un near St Buryan, has a tall menhir in the centre, so has Nine Stones Circle on Bodmin Moor.

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.

• Breton, Henry Hugh, The Heart of Dartmoor, (1926)
• Hemery, Eric, High Dartmoor: Land and People, (1983)
• Worth, R.N., The Stone Rows of Dartmoor - Part 3, T.D.A. Vol.26 pp.296-307 (1894)