Guide to the Monuments on Chagford Common

Table of Ritual and Burial Monuments on Chagford Common

Table of Round Houses on Chagford Common

Chagford Common Guide Map

Guidance for walkers: The monuments featured in this database are archaeological treasures and need to be protected and preserved - please do not disturb any sites. Please check access and firing times before visiting sites, not all sites listed are on open access land. Firing ranges and boundaries of open access areas are marked on the OL28 OS Dartmoor Explorer map. Please stick to the country code and consider giving support to the numerous agencies that help to keep Dartmoor a fabulous natural and historic environment!

List of Ritual and Burial Monuments on Chagford Common

Hurston Ridge Standing Stone

OS Map: SX 67268 82444
NMR record: SX 68 SE 10
HER record: MDV6541
Megalithic Portal: 8345
PMD: Hurston Ridge Standing Stone
ShortName: SS HurstonRidg
Butler map: 25.9
DPD page: 136
Notes: Hurston Ridge is one of the best examples of a double stone now on Dartmoor. At the south end is a cairn 22feet in diameter. The space between the rows widens intentionally as it approaches the cairn. The first stone from the south in the eastern row is the largest stone and stands 5 feet 10 inches high. Crossing suggests this may have been the original Heath Stone. A cinerary urn, in fragments except for the rim, was discovered in the cairn in 1900. Restored, the urn, 18 3/4 inches high, 16 inches in diameter at the rim and 8 inches in diameter at the base was revealed as an unusually large and handsome bipartite Overhanging rim or crowned urn of Middle Bronze Age type.
Nearby sites: SX67278244

Shapley Common Standing Stone

OS Map: SX 70012 82227
NMR: No record found
HER: No record found
PMD: Shapley Common
ShortName: SS:Shapley C1
Butler map: 23.5
Butler Vol 5: p.212
Notes: Possible standing stone, see Butler Vol V (1997) p 212.
Nearby sites: SX70018223

Chagford Common 2 Cairn

OS Map: SX 67850 83590
NMR record: SX 68 SE 100
HER record: MDV13036
ShortName: CN:Chagford 2
Grinsell: CHA 7
Notes: Disturbed cairn. See also CHA 10a-i NMR 443914
Nearby sites: SX67858359

Chagford Common 6 Reported Cairn

OS Map: SX 67500 83000
NMR: No record found
HER record: MDV13039
ShortName: CN:Chagford 6
Grinsell: CHA 10a-i
Notes: 1902 exc. Unlocated - maybe CHA 7-9
Nearby sites: SX67508300

Lowton Brook Reported Cairn

OS Map: SX 66900 82870
NMR record: SX 68 SE 200
HER record: MDV54605
ShortName: CN:Lowton Br
Nearby sites: SX66908287

Shapley Common 1 Cairn

OS Map: SX 69690 82760
NMR record: SX 68 SE 295
HER record: MDV64821
ShortName: CN:Shapley C5
Butler map: 23.5.1
Nearby sites: SX69698276

Shapley Common 2 Cairn

OS Map: SX 69869 82580
NMR record: SX 68 SE 86
HER record: MDV6726
ShortName: CN:Shapley C6
Butler map: 23.5.2
Notes: A disturbed heather covered cairn lies on the gently sloping north east flank of Shapley Tor. The slightly ovoid mound measures 8.6 metres north to south by 8 metres and stands a maximum of 1 metres high. An ovoid hollow 2.5 metres by 3 metres and around 0.4 metres deep is visible in the centre of this feature.
Nearby sites: SX69878258

Hurston Ridge Stone Row Cairn

OS Map: SX 67268 82446
NMR record: SX 68 SE 10
HER record: MDV61939
PMD: Hurston Ridge Stone Row
ShortName: CN:Hurston R6
Butler map: 25.9
Butler Vol 5: p.221 & Fig.154
Grinsell: CHA 5
Notes: The cairn at the upper end of the alignment measures 5.9 metres in diameter and stands up to a height of 0.6 metres. A large slab denoting the north eastern edge of the cairn may represent a second blocking stone of the associated alignment. A cinerary urn was found in the cairn. "The cairn has been throughly rifled ... It's shape is irregular ... but with no sign of the cist at one time visible here" (Butler Vol 2 p.30).
Nearby sites: SX67278245

Hurston Ridge Reave, adjacent to Cairn

OS Map: SX 67660 83500
NMR: No record found
HER record: MDV61934
ShortName: CN:Hurston R5
Nearby sites: SX67668350

Lowton Brook W. Settlement

OS Map: SX 66300 83400
NMR record: SX 68 SE 66
HER record: MDV104672
Megalithic Portal: 24262
ShortName: ST:LowtonBrW
Nearby sites: SX66308340

Hurston Ridge Settlement

OS Map: SX 67400 82500
NMR record: SX 68 SE 9
HER record: MDV6668
Megalithic Portal: 34979
ShortName: ST:HurstonRidg
Butler map: 25.9
Nearby sites: SX67408250

Hurston Ridge Stone Row

OS Map: SX 67260 82437
NMR record: SX 68 SE 10
HER record: MDV6541
Megalithic Portal: 8345
The Stone Rows of GB: Hurston Ridge
PMD: Hurston Ridge Stone Row
ShortName: SR Hurston
Butler map: 25.9
Butler Vol 5: p.228 & Fig.161
DPD page: 136
Notes: .Worth: Watern Hill. "A stone alignment which includes two parallel lines of upright stones leading downslope for 143 metres from a round cairn. The lower end of the alignment is denoted by a blocking stone. Midway along the alignment a length of later enclosure walling crosses the row. The cairn at the upper end of the alignment measures 5.9 metres in diameter and stands up to a height of 0.6 metres. A large slab denoting the north eastern edge of the cairn may represent a second blocking stone of the associated alignment. A cinerary urn was found in the cairn." A number of the stones were restored to their original sockets in 1894. A broken hand axe was discovered in the pit in which one of the stones had stood near to the menhir next to the cairn.
Nearby sites: SX67268244

West Vitifer Cist

OS Map: SX 67574 82806
NMR record: SX 68 SE 7
HER record: MDV6615
Megalithic Portal: 34980
PMD: Chagford Common
ShortName: CT:WestVitifer
Butler map: 25.11
Grinsell: CHA 4
Barrow Report: 16
Notes: "Possible location of a Bronze Age cist, although when subject to field investigation in November 2002 the site was not found" "The cairn was partially excavated in 1897 by the Barrow Committee of the Devonshire Association. This working revealed a ring of slabs surrounding a cist which had not been previously examined. In the cist there was a complete Bronze Age beaker together with charcoal but no trace of a burial." Cairn survives, restored urn thought to be in Plymouth museum. See: Sixteenth Barrow Report 1897. Butler Vol. 2. Map 25.11 ( p.32).
Nearby sites: SX67578281

West Vitifer (duplicate) Reported Cairn

OS Map: SX 67500 82600
NMR record: SX 68 SE 8
HER record: MDV-1
ShortName: CT?West Viti2
Notes: Possible location of a Bronze Age cist, although when subject to field investigation in November 2002 the site was not found. Probably a duplicate of NMR 443785.
Nearby sites: SX67508260