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Summary

Submerged stone row on the estuary of the River Taw, consisting of two parallel rows of at least 9, and up to 16, pairs of stones. It was partially excavated in 1930s, when a number of flint tools were recovered.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1003847: Double stone alignment on Isley Marsh 535m north of Lower Yelland Farm

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS43SE/2
• Old SAM County Ref: 173
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SS43SE 6
• Royal Albert Memorial Museum Accession Number: EXE/103/1949

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• STONE ALIGNMENT (Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age - 8000 BC to 701 BC)

Full description

Untitled Source (Museum Collection). SDV342140.

Rogers, E. H., 1932, The Yelland Stone Row, 201-2 (Article in Serial). SDV342137.

Unknown, 1933, Proceedings at the 72nd Annual Meeting, held at Ilfracombe, 3rd to 7th July, 1933, 31 (Article in Serial). SDV342132.

An investigation of a double stone row has begun in the Taw estuary where the soil has yielded flint implements.

Rogers, E. H., 1946, The Raised Beach, Submerged Forest and Kitchen Midden of Westward Ho and the Submerged Stone Row of Yelland, 121-127 (Article in Serial). SDV10007.

Submerged stone row on the River Taw. Two parallel rows on exactly level site. Nine pairs of stones, or stone holes, at intervals of at least 2 metres, excavated; 8 pairs untouched. Row now lies 3 metres below high spring tide level. Possible barrow, a usual feature of such stone rows, could not have survived erosion at this level. Evidence of stratigraphy and scatter of flint tools suggests occupation, not necessarily continuous, during Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Early to Middle Bronze Ages. Other details: Figure 2; Plates 17-19.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1953 - 1957, SS43SE 6 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV342133.

Probable Bronze Age stone avenue.
1. Position of Yelland Stone Row at SS49133284. A double stone row 6 feet apart and 113 feet long with stones spaced approximately 7 feet 6 inches apart or multiples of 7 feet 6 inches where stones are missing. All the stones are 'foreign' sandstone and there should be 16 stones in each row - so far 9 of these have been located. Of four only the base remains, others project only a few inches while the two easterly stones are the largest, the northen stone being 27 inches in overall length and 13 by 11 inches in section, the southern stone is 25 inches in overall length and 8 by 10 inches in section. During excavations a number of flakes, cores and 2 scrapers, with some charcoal and calcined flint, were found near the row.
2. Number 1 correct but stones 'A' and 'B' (on plan) stand 10 inches and 16 inches respectively above ground level. The stones are sited as in scale plan. The area is mud-covered with some loose pebbles. No trace of a mound, of blocking stones or of other stones in association with the avenue was found.
3. Located and surveyed on field document. Other details: Plan.

Ministry of Works, 1960, Stone Row on Isley Marsh, Lower Yelland (Schedule Document). SDV346399.

Stone row on Isley Marsh consists of a double stone row on the tidal mud flats. The rows are about 7 feet (2.13 metres) apart and 56 yards (51.2 metres) long. The tallest stone stands about 1 foot 3 inches (0.38 metres) above the mud. Gaps in the rows suggest that each row once had 16 stones. Only 15 stones were observed when visited in March 1969. Other details: Monument 173.

Hawkins, A. S., 1977, Yelland Stone Row (Worksheet). SDV342141.

The axis of the rows is roughly east-west. As a pair of stone rows at river level it is unique. It may owe its existence to influence from Dartmoor via the Torridge valley.

Jacobi, R. M., 1979, Early Flandrian Hunters in the South-West, 48, 85-86 (Article in Serial). SDV117514.

Jacobi draws comparison between waste deposited at Westward Ho! "kitchen midden" site and that found below estuarine mud at Yelland. He speculates that the Yelland site, among others, might represent an early summer fishing site for inland Mesolithic hunters. Other details: Figure 17.

Weston, S., 1983, The Yelland Stone Row (Personal Comment). SDV342139.

Field Monument Warden visit.

Fowler, M. J. F., 1993, Standing Stones of Exmoor, 166 (Article in Serial). SDV65409.

Double row of at least 9 stones extending over approximately 35 metres and now located in the Taw estuary.

Exeter Archaeology, 1999, Archaeological Assessment of Proposed Power Station Site at Yelland, North Devon (Report - Assessment). SDV338694.

Wessex Archaeology, 2007, RMB Chivenor Flood Defence Scheme Barnstaple, Devon: Archaeological Desk-based Assessment, 9 (Report - Assessment). SDV342125.

Other details: WA 2.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

'Stone Row (Remains of)' shown on modern mapping with 18 stones shown.

Grant, M. J. + Sturt, F. + Dix, J., 2015, Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Phase One Desk-Based Assessment for South-West England: North Coast of Devon (excluding Exmoor) and North Coast of Cornwall: Project Design, Fig. 8 (Un-published). SDV358399.

Unattributed, 2018, Searching for the Lost Stones of Yelland, 8 (Article in Serial). SDV361795.

Yelland stone row disappeared from view in the 1980s following the closure of Yelland power station which changed the currents in the estuary and the area became covered in silts. A geophysical survey is currently being undertaken on the marshland to rediscover the stones. The monument comprises at least 18 small stones in two parallel rows. Excavations in the 1930s found nine pairs of stones or stone sockets, flint tools and evidence for occupation in the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV1761 - TOOL (Mesolithic to Early Iron Age - 8000 BC to 700 BC)

Associated Events

• EDV4490 - RMB Chivenor Flood Defence Scheme Barnstaple, Devon: Archaeological Desk-based Assessment

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