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!
About the database listings: In all listings clicking on the photo or the site name will open a page for the site with a larger photo and further details from the database. The database now has over 6680 records covering nearly all publicly listed sites on Dartmoor including around 4800 round houses. This level of detail is of interest to archaeologists but tends to swamp listings of sites more likely to be of interest for walkers. For this reason, the listings default to around 550 core sites only. These are the stone circles, stone rows and the ring cairns listed by Turner. The default search radius is 2 km. The controls below the map can be used to start a new search by entering a 6- or 8-digit reference (without the prefix "SX"). The search radius can be specified and you can add incremental Display layers of detail on top of the core sites. If using a more detailed layer you will need to decrease the search radius to avoid getting hundreds of search results.
These listings have incorporated, matched up and merged all of the records from all of the major archaeological listings including: Worth, Grinsell, Turner, Butler, Bill Radcliffe, Sandy Gerrard, Megalithic Portal, the National Monument Records and the Historic Environment Records. The author would like to thank Bill, Sandy, the lovely people both at Megalithic Portal (especially Anne Tate who did an amazing job to link listings) and at ACE Archaeology for collaborative work over the years to synchronise and correct listings across the various websites which now interlink. A culmination of years of work the final merger of cairn records took 3 months of cross referencing in 2017 the result being a snapshot of the records at that time. This data has in turn been refined since by field work and research. The round house data was supplied by Sandy Gerrard. Grid references are in order of accuracy: from Google Earth satellite, if visible and found, from a Garmin GPS reading, if visited by the author and from the literature otherwise. Individual site pages will state the source of the grid reference and provide satellite imagery. If a site listing lacks a photo it has not yet been visited by the author in which case the grid reference is from the literature.
Currently the database only includes sites which can be represented by a grid reference. Reaves are not included as they require GIS shape technology which is beyond the current capability of this system. To see the sources for the records, look at the tables on the resources menu. The database listings can also be viewed on a Google map and downloaded as GPS datasets for Garmin devices.
Corrections, or any feedback or suggestions are very welcome, email: info@dartmoorwalks.org.uk.
NOTE: Clicking on the icons for each monument in the map will give the name of the site. You can zoom in and out and drag the map around.
OS Map: SX 81095 83161
HER: MDV102539
Megalithic Portal: 24205
PMD: Tottiford Reservoir
ShortName: SC Tottiford
Notes: The Tottiford circle was discovered in 2009 when there was lower than usual levels of water in Tottiford reservoir; it featured as part of a Time Team dig in 2010. Normally it is submerged within the reservoir. During the drought of August 2022 the stones were exposed again for the first time for years. Photo by Zoe Lester taken on 04/09/22. Reproduced with kind permission - copyright remains with Zoe.
Nearby sites: SX 81095 83161
Distance: 1.67km
OS Map: SX 81137 83093
HER: MDV102540
Megalithic Portal: 24205
The Stone Rows of GB: Tottiford Reservoir 1
PMD: Tottiford Reservoir Stone Rows
ShortName: SR Tottiford 1
Notes: "This stone row was initially noticed in late 2009, when the reservoir was only 6% full. This double stone row is aligned roughly north-west - south-east and is at least 54 meters in length. The size and form of the stones used varies considerably but the two rows are consistently 1.2 meters apart. The row leads directly to (or away from) the naturally occurring mound south-east of the stone circle." This row will be normally covered by the Tottiford Reservoir. The stones of the row were exposed for a short period following the drought of August 2022. From the northenern end the author took a photo at SX 81135 83102 (6/9/22). It was too muddy to get any closer and the grid reference of SX 81137 83093 is inferred and used for this entry. Max Piper visited the day before and got as close as SX 81129 83102 which is consistent with the inferred actual location.
Nearby sites: SX 81137 83093
Distance: 1.59km
OS Map: SX 81121 83132
HER: MDV102544
ShortName: CN Tottiford
Notes: "A total of 156 pieces of worked flint were recovered from the excavation, with the majority of the material found consisting of debitage from flint working, most of which is small enough to qualify as chips. The small size of much of the material, the indications of blade and bladelet technology and one triangular platform rejuvenation flake, suggest a date in the (probably later) Meolithic for most of the material."
"A number of tools were recovered, including a neat end scraper of probable late Neolithic date, a notched flake of probable Meolithic date, an unstratified piercer and a crude end scraper from an unstratified location."
"The 2010 excavation of test pits on the mound confirmed the presence of worked flint and concluded the mound was a natural feature and also suggested that the presence of the flint could be the result of selective deposition by water originating upstream."
Nearby sites: SX 81121 83132
Distance: 1.63km
Page last updated 18/02/24