Drizzlecombe

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The highest menhir

The Drizzlecombe (or Thrushelcombe) complex is located on Dartmoor in Devon , England , on the western side of the moor about four miles east of the village of Yelverton, near the upper reaches of the River Plym which flows into Plymouth .

Map of Drizzlecombe

Monuments

The place on the slope of the Hartor Hill includes a group of small stone circles , stone mounds , long rows of stones , menhirs ( English standing stones ), stone boxes , foundations of beehive huts and so-called Dartmoor Pounds (round areas surrounded by high dry stone masonry , in which the foundations of Round huts are located (see Grimspound )). Most of the monuments date from the Bronze and Iron Ages and are located in an area that is extremely rich in megaliths .

Stone chest at Drizzlecombe

Rows of stones

There is no alignment of the rows of stones in the direction of the Trowlesworthy Tors, the highest point on the site. A stone northwest of the menhir at the southern end of the southernmost row is aligned in the direction of the Hen Tor (rock tower). The three rows of stones of different lengths, ending offset from one another, each have a cairn, which lies in a stone circle, at their head end.

Stone circles

The largest stone circle consists of 13 low stones and is ten meters in diameter. A 90 m long row of stones extends from it. It ends near the "Giant's Basin", a large cairn 21.6 m in diameter and three meters high with a neighboring menhir. The 4.3 m high menhir is the tallest in Dartmoor. A second row of stones running roughly parallel, the highest menhir of which measures 3.2 m, is 150 m long. Its circle, made up of twelve partially fallen stones, is 8.8 m in diameter. The third row of stones is also 150 m long. Its once tallest stone with a length of 2.4 m lies on the ground. The associated circle of nine stones is about nine meters in diameter. The high menhirs mark the end of the row. They are probably from Hartor tor. The stones within the rows are mostly smaller than 0.5 m.

Other monuments

There is the Whitten Knowles Pound nearby and a second large pound at Legis Gate, both with a complex of smelters and surrounding foundations where fragments of ornate pottery have been found.

There are three stone boxes in the northwest. One of them is very well preserved, its capstone is about upright.

literature

  • DD Emmet: Stone rows: the traditional view reconsidered. Devon Archaeological Society, No. 37, pp. 94-114 (1979) Torquay.

See also

Web links

Commons : Drizzlecombe  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 29 ′ 14 "  N , 3 ° 59 ′ 7.6"  W.