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Summary

Single stone row of at least 12 stones in open clearing in forestry plantation on Lakehead Hill. Irregular line of mostly small stones associated with another alignment and three cists in the immediate area, one of which lies to the west and another to the south of the alignment.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1018510: Five cairns, two stone alignments and three cists, forming part of a ritual complex on Lakehead Hill

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67NW64
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442697
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/60
• Old SAM County Ref: 962
• Old SAM Ref: 28687.3
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX67NW64

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• STONE ALIGNMENT (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Worth, R. H., 1946, The Stone Rows of Dartmoor. Part 1, 311 (Article in Serial). SDV251172.

Stone row on Lakehead Hill. 12 stones observed in open clearing in forestry plantation. Length 20.12m. A single row of stones extends for 60 feet on the same alignment as a cist 400 feet to the east to which the row may have run.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX67NW64, plan, photograph (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV249569.

(30/11/1979) A single row of stones, centred at SX 64327764, and situated at 424m OD near the summit of Lakehead Hill. The present length of 20.3m is made up of a dozen stones, mostly small slabs on edge averaging 0.3m high, with a blocking stone at the west end, 0.6m high. The line is rather irregular and, apart from four gaps, the stones are spaced at intervals of 1.0m to 1.3m (see ground photographs). The east/west alignment is not directed towards a cist as asserted by Worth. The cist to the west (SX 67 NW 11) lies 30.0m to the north, and that to the east (SX 67 NW 32) is 30.0m to the south of the alignment.
Surveyed at 1:10000 on MSD; and at 1:2500 and 1:250 for record purposes (see illustration.).

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

Not visible on Royal air Force 1951 aerial photograph.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 144264 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(09/07/1997) Stone alignment forming part of a ritual complex on Lakehead Hill.
Area immediately around monument is being kept clear. No trace of annual poaching now although evidence that this may have occurred in the past. Alignment oriented 273 degrees. Largest stone 0.75m high.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 50-51, Map 27, Figure 27.13 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Lakehead Hill summit stone row at SX64387765 of 19.9 metres long and consisting of 12 stones with spaces for another 3 or 4. Two slabs on edge alongside the eastern pair are more likely to be packing stones than the remains of a second row. The irregular spacing and poor alignment suggests that the stones may have been re-erected out of position by some unknown antiquary in the past. If a cairn once terminated the row it had been completely removed before the monument was first recorded and no trace of it remains. The stone at right angles to the west end of the row was either a blocking stone or the remining slab of a retaining circle.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1993-1998, Dartmoor Royal Forest Project, P. Newman (Report - Survey). SDV346608.

(22/11/1993) SX 64387765. A stone row sited on a gently sloping position, slightly to the south of Lakehead Hill summit, within an open grassy area 50m west of the plantation edge. The row has an approximately east-west alignment and consists of twelve erect stones spaced between 0.5m and 1m apart. The tallest is 0.8m. The westernmost stone is an approximately triangular slab of 0.8m high, leaning slightly to the east and is positioned across the end of the row in the manner of a 'blocking stone'. The area around the monument is managed, with vegetation trimmed to ground level.

Quinnell, N. V., 1995, Notes in Sites and Monument Record: stone rows, Notes in SMR (Personal Comment). SDV138550.

(22/03/1995) Bellever Lakehead 2.

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

Alignment shown on survey.

Dartmoor National Park Authority, 2014, Bellever: An Archaeological Landscape (Leaflet). SDV357070.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 2015-2017, 2015-2017 Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV361462.

Stones visible on aerial photograph.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1018510 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

The monument, which falls into five areas of protection, includes five cairns, two stone alignments and three cists lying on a gentle slope near the summit of Lakehead Hill. The northern of the two stone alignments includes a 22 metres long, single row of at least 12 stones standing up to 0.75 metres high, aligned east to west.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7388 - Archaeological condition survey in Bellever Woods
• EDV7406 - Archaeological condition survey in Bellever Woods
• EDV7431 - Woodland Survey (1989-90) at Bellever, Soussons and other woodland parcels
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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