See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Thirteen upright granite boundary markers of on average 1.0 metre high, surrounding the summit of Roos Tor. Each is inscribed with a letter 'B'. Set up in the late 19th century to mark the limit for licensed granite cutting in the area by the land owner the Duke of Bedford

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57NW160
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1406369
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57NW/104

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BOUNDARY STONE (Built, XIX - 1850 AD (Between) to 1899 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Fourteen 'Stones' shown on early 20th century map.

Harris, H., 1981, 19th Century granite working on Pew Tor and Staple Tor, Western Dartmoor, 43 (Article in Serial). SDV236242.

Evidence of stone cutting on Roos Tor. In 1880 the summit was made a protected area with a ring of 14 stone posts marked B (Duke of Bedford). Beside all but one of these is a natural block of stone marked with a horizontal line within a circle.

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

Brewer, D., 1986, A field guide to the boundary markers on and around Dartmoor (Monograph). SDV309252.

The stones mark the limit for licensed granite cutting in the area by the land owner the Duke of Bedford, who would not permit destruction of the tor itself. The upright stones were erected in about 1890 to replace the earlier less conspicuous stones which date from about 1847.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 96, Map 31, Site 'c' (Monograph). SDV219155.

Ring of pillars incised 'B' surrounding Roos Tor were set up by the Duke of Bedford in about 1880 to prevent damage to the tor rocks by the granite workers. Many of the pillars are accompanied by flat slabs incised with a dashed circle.

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

(15/12/2004) A series of 13 upright granite boundary markers which surround the summit of Roos Tor. Each stone measures approximately 1.0 metre high and is cut from dressed granite of 0.3 metres square. On the side facing away from the tor is a large inscribed letter 'B' (for Bedford). Several of the stones have an additional stone beside them. These are mostly earthfast natural stones inscribed with a circle having a line across its diameter and are earlier than the upright examples.

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.

Thirteen upright granite boundary markers of on average 1.0 metre high, surrounding the summit of Roos Tor. Each is inscribed with a letter 'B'.

Ordnance Survey, 2022, Mastermap 2022 (Cartographic). SDV364674.

'Stones' shown to the north, south, east and west of Roos Tor on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

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
• EDV8713 - Merrivale Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.