Archaeology of Dartmoor
THE East Cheshire Ramblers recently ventured further afield on a week long visit to Dartmoor in Devon.
One of the walks included walking from the tiny village of Gidleigh which lies on the eastern edge of the moor.
The focal point of the village is the Holy Trinity Church which dates from the late 15th century and nearby are the remains of Gidleigh Castle which is a much earlier building.
From the village the route took us southwards through the densely forested area of Gidleigh Tor to cross the cascading Teign River. The path joined the Two Moors Way leading us through flowering pasture meadows of the lower slopes of Dartmoor.
At Frenchbeer we left the path walking up on the moorlands and shortly reached the remains of Bronze Age hut circles.
Crossing the valley we climbed the slopes up to Thornworthy Tor.
Dartmoor is covered with numerous tors which are the remains of the granite plugs from volcanic activity nearly 300 million years ago. This high point gave us views of the moors and low lying land all round with Fernworthy Reservoir below.
Lunch was at another Tor called Kestor Rock. We sheltered from the prevailing wind surrounded by unconcerned Dartmoor ponies and their foals.
We headed again for distant slopes towards the ‘Long Stone’ three metres tall with initials carved into one face having a more modern use as a boundary stone. We were now on Shovel Down which has an impressive range of remains dating from the Bronze Age including field systems, stone rows, stone huts, a cairn and the standing stone.
We hadn’t seen stone rows before so they were of special interest to us, being made up of stones which run about a metre apart roughly in a north south direction for a length of up to 180 metres including a Y shape where two rows meet. These may have had a ceremonial purpose. We continued to walk along the stone rows towards an ancient Clapper Bridge then climbing to a higher point where we came across the impressive Scorhill Circle, before returning to Gidleigh.
For more details of East Cheshire Ramblers’ programme of weekend and midweek walks ranging from 4 to 15 miles in length, go to ramblerseastcheshire. org.uk.