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Summary

A circle of stones on Ringmoor Down is likely to be modern. Previously described as possible kern circle or stone circle but is unlikely to be an antiquity.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1012248: Stone setting (retaining kerb of a cairn) north-east of Brisworthy Plantation

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE61
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 438674
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/34
• Old SAM County Ref: 10592
• Pastscape: 438674

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• (Former Type) KERB CIRCLE (Constructed, Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• (Former Type) STONE CIRCLE (Constructed, Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• NON ANTIQUITY (Constructed, XVIII to World War II - 1751 AD (Between) to 1940 AD (Between))

Full description

Worth, R. H., 1944, 63rd Report on Barrows, 39, plate 1 (Article in Serial). SDV139295.

Ringmoor Down. An 11ft 2ins diameter cairn circle composed of fourteen stones of which four have fallen over (Plan). Stones of quartz-schorl, not granite. The retaining circle of a barrow is c.250m from the circle at the end of the stone row in a north-westerly direction. Longitude 4 degrees - 1' - 38 1/2", latitude 50 degrees - 28' - 29 1/2". Unusually all the stones are quartz-schorl rock from veins in the altered slate, the circle being without the border granite. There are 14 stones. Diameter 3.4m, maximum height 0.48m.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX56NE61, Plan. (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV217431.

(25/05/1950) This would seem to be the retaining circle of a small barrow. The description and dimensions of Worth (1944) are accurate.

Ordnance Survey, 1953-1969, 1953-1969 National Grid OS A edition imperial (Cartographic). SDV352727.

(SX 56146595) Marked on 1954 historic map as 'Cairn Circle'.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 166 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(28/07/1972) Eleven stones presumably of a retaining circle; no mound or cairn, but very small hollow towards centre. Diameter 3.8m.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX56NE61 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV217425.

(09/03/1979) The circle, 3.7 metres in diameter, is as planned by Worth. None of the stones is taller than 0.7 metres and the majority no more than 0.3 metres high. There is no cairn and only half of the stones are earthfast and with no sign that they ever were packed.
A rather odd circle of stones. It is notable that a newly discovered ?embanked stone circle nearby (SX 56 NE 161) also incorporates a few quartz-schorl stones though these occur in a near locality.
It has been suggested by T. Greeves (oral information; not archived) that this circle may be a sham; if so, and it is impossible to prove by visual inspection, the stones may have been removed from the nearby circle.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.

Thom, A. + Thom, A. S., 1980/1981, Stone Monuments, 110-1; plan (Article in Serial). SDV260570.

Re-surveyed by Professor Thom.

Balaam, N. D. + Smith, K. + Wainwright, G. J., 1982, The Shaugh Moor Project: Fourth Report - Environment, Context and Conclusion, 255 (Article in Serial). SDV145845.

Probably an eroded kerb cairn.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, Aerial Photograph Project (Dartmoor) - Dartmoor Pre-NMP (Cartographic). SDV319854.

Not visible on the 1946 Royal Air Force vertical aerial photographs.

Turner, J. R., 1990, Ring Cairns, Stone Circles and Related Monuments on Dartmoor, 82, G29 (Article in Serial). SDV229817.

Turner suggests that this may be a stone circle, though it may not be Prehistoric, the stones possibly coming from ring cairn SX56NE-292. Diameter 3.4m. 14 stones visible.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 144-5, Map 49, Figure 49.21 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Ringmoor Down '3' at SX56156593 of 3.5 metres diameter is a flat ring of stones. It may mark the site of a demolished cairn but only two or three stones are truly earthfast and the others have obviously been added in comparatively recent times to fake an antiquity.

Probert, S., 2005, Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV363484.

(18/02/2005) SX 5615 6594. This feature has the semblance of having ben recently created. The stones are mostly loose and irregularly spaced. As a monument type it appears to be unique on Dartmoor. It should not be considered of great antiquity.

Probert, S. A. J., 2010, A Condition Survey of the Archaeological Sites of Ringmoor, Dartmoor Training Area (Report - Survey). SDV360517.

Newman, P., 2018, Archaeological Sites within Ringmoor Training Area, Dartmoor National Park, Devon: A condition survey on behalf of Defence Infrastructure Organisation (Report - Survey). SDV361636.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, UPRM-18 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

(08/11/2019) Condition assessed as ?very good by volunteer recorders; no issues noted.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs (Photograph). SDV363073.

Feature photographed in November 2019.

Ordnance Survey, 2021, MasterMap 2021 (Cartographic). SDV364015.

'Stones' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1012248 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

This stone setting is probably the retaining kerb of a cairn, it is 4 metres in diameter and consists of fourteen stones up to a maximum height of 0.55 metres. The stones are of quartz-schorl, rather than the more usual granite. There is a slight hollow in the centre of the setting, though no remains of a mound survive.

Newman, P., 2022, Ringmoor Down Premier Archaeological Landscape Dartmoor National Park, Devon. A new survey, Table 1 (Report - Survey). SDV365490.

A circle of stones on Ringmoor Down is likely to be modern SX 56154 65941. This circle of stones is as described by the OSAD in 1979. It is unlikely to be an antiquity.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7443 - Condition survey of archaeological sites in Ringmoor Training Area
• EDV7569 - Condition survey of Ringmoor Down training area
• EDV8227 - Ringmoor Training Area: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV8917 - Survey of the archaeological features on Ringmoor Down

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