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Summary

The Beardown Man standing stone is one of only two certain examples of an isolated standing stone on Dartmoor. Situated immediately to the west of Devil's Tor on a west-facing slope overlooking the valley of the River Cowsic, the stone leans slightly towards the south-east and measures 3.4 metres high by 1.0 metre wide and 0.4 metres thick.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1008013: Beardown Man standing stone

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57NE1
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439571
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57NE/4
• Old SAM County Ref: 554
• Old SAM Ref: 22222

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• STANDING STONE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Baring Gould, S., 1888, Some Devon Monoliths, 160-2 (Article in Serial). SDV266063.

Baring Gould, S., 1900, A Book of Dartmoor, 63, 64, Illustration with scale (Monograph). SDV277387.

'Bairdown Man' menhir is by Devil Tor in a sigularly desolate spot.

Burnard, R., 1911, Address of the President, 52 (Article in Serial). SDV231227.

Solitary menhir near Devil's Tor probably, and exceptionally, not connected with interment of the dead.

Brailsford, J. W., 1938, Bronze Age Stone Monuments of Dartmoor, 451 (Article in Serial). SDV304210.

Worth, R. H., 1940, The Dartmoor Menhirs, 191-192, Fig 1 plates 2, 3, Estimated 1939 (Article in Serial). SDV231163.

Beardown Man. Under Devil's Tor. The stone is a top slab from one of the piles of rock constituting the tor. Measures 3.45 metres high, 0.99 metres long, 0.34 metres wide.
This menhir lies a little to west of Devil's Tor, a fine stone remotely placed. There is a cairn approximately 250 metres to the south.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX57NE1 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV255326.

Visited 26/6/1950. Worth's description confirmed as accurate.

Brown, T., 1961, Tales of a Dartmoor Village: Some Preliminary Notes on the Folklore of Postbridge, 205 (Article in Serial). SDV238060.

Robinson, R., 1982, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1982 (Un-published). SDV342809.

Visited 26/1/1982 Department of Environment Field Monument Warden visit.

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

Not visible on the Royal Air Force vertical aerial photographs.

Robinson, R., 1986, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1986 (Un-published). SDV345664.

Visited 6/9/1986 Field Monument Warden visit.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 64-5, Map 29.15 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Beardown Man is a massive granite slab high above the river on the edge of a featureless plateau below Devil's Tor. The depth of peat here has reduced it's original height by at least a metre to its present 3.5 metres.

Newman, P., 2004, Merrivale Range Baseline Condition Survey, 30/11/2004 (Report - Survey). SDV346874.

Merrivale Range Baseline Condition Survey visit. The monument is currently in a stable condition though is used by animals as a rubbing post.

English Heritage, 2005-2008, Prehistoric Survey Information (Cartographic). SDV345521.

Shown on survey.

Newman, P., 2018, Archaeological Sites within Merrivale Training Area, Dartmoor National Park, Devon: A condition survey on behalf of Defence Infrastructure Organisation (Report - Survey). SDV361635.

Beardown Man. An upright standing stone on the west side of Devil's Tor.

Ordnance Survey, 2018, MasterMap 2018 (Cartographic). SDV360652.

'Beardown Man' standing stone is depicted on the modern mapping.

Historic England, 2018, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV360653.

The Beardown Man standing stone is one of only two certain examples of an isolated standing stone on Dartmoor.
Details: This monument includes a standing stone situated immediately to the west of Devil's Tor on a gentle west-facing slope overlooking the valley of the River Cowsic. The stone leans slightly towards the south-east and measures 3.4 metres high by 1.0 metre wide and 0.4 metres thick.

National Monument Record, 2018, Pastscape, 1978 and 1994 data (Website). SDV360651.

On the summit of the flattish top of Devil's Tor at approximately 139.0 metres OD is the 'Beardown Man' (name confirmed). The stone, which leans slightly south-east, is 3.4 metres high, 1.0 metre by 0.4 metres in section, and in good condition.
Revised at 1:10 000 on PFD. See ground photograph (citing Ordnance Survey Field Investigators Comments, 25/08/1978).
SX 59587961. Beardown Man. An impressive standing stone, in good condition and as described by Worth (1940). However, the long term stability of the stone is threatened by a deep, irregular hollow around its base. The stone is located off the crest of a ridge in open moorland (citing Probert, S. A. J., 11/07/1994 Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments in England Field Investigation).

Historic England, 2021-2022, NRHE to HER website, Accessed 20/08/2021 (Website). SDV364039.

(SX 59587961) Beardown Man (NAT) Standing Stone (NR) (1)

Beardown Man, a standing stone, some 11 feet 4 inches high
lying a little to the west of Devil's Tor, Lydford. Dimensions
at ground level are north side 3 feet, south 2 feet 11 inches,
west 1 feet 6 inches and east 11 1/2 inches. (2)

On the summit of the flattish top of Devil's Tor at approximately
139.0m OD is the 'Beardown Man' (name confirmed). The stone,
which leans slightly south east, is 3.4m high, 1.0m by 0.4m in
section, and in good condition. Revised at 1:10 000 on PFD. See ground photograph. (3)

SX 59587961. Beardown Man. An impressive standing stone, in good condition and as described by authority (2). However, the long term stability of the stone is threatened by a deep, irregular hollow around its base. The stone is located off the crest of a ridge in open moorland. (4)

Merrivale Range Baseline Condition Survey visit. The monument is currently in a stable condition though is used by animals as a rubbing post (5)

Sources ?
Ref Title (& comments) Year SoR Pages Volume Notes
SX 57 NE/ink survey
1 Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)
Default value used to record large numbers of archive items which are not separately catalogued. See Monument Recording Guidelines for details of use. OS 6" 1954
2 Devonshire Association reports and transactions 191-2 72, 1940
3 Field Investigators Comments F1 NJA 25-AUG-78
4 Field Investigators Comments PROBERT,SAJP 11-JUL-1994 RCHME Field Investigation
5 Field Investigators Comments Newman P 30-Nov-2004 Merrivale Range Baseline Condition Survey

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7441 - Condition survey of the archaeological sites of Merrivale Training Area
• EDV7570 - Condition survey of Merrivale Range training area
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8713 - Merrivale Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey

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