Details

Stone alignments or stone rows consist of upright stones set in single line
or in two or more parallel lines, up to a few hundred metres in length. They
frequently lead to burial monuments such as small cairns, cists and barrows
and are therefore thought to have had a ceremonial function. The 70 or so
examples known on Dartmoor were probably constructed in the Late Neolithic
period (around 2,500 BC).
This alignment runs for 500m in a roughly north-south direction from the
top of Stalldown. It is closely associated with three lateral cairns, one of
which is defined by a fine retaining kerb. Many of the stones have been
restored in the past and may not be exactly as originally positioned. They
are mostly 1 to 1.5m high with four over 2m at the northern end, where
they are also more widely spaced. One cairn lies 28m to the west towards
the northern end, the second lies 41m to the east a little further south
and the retaining kerb of the third, lies on the alignment further south.
The complex lies in area heavily cut for peat.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Dartmoor is the largest expanse of open moorland in Southern Britain and
because of exceptional conditions of preservation, it is also one of the
most complete examples of an upland relict landscape in the whole country.
The great wealth and diversity of archaeological remains provides direct
evidence for human exploitation of the Moor from the early prehistoric
period onwards. The well-preserved and often visible relationship between
settlement sites, major land boundaries, trackways, ceremonial and funerary
monuments as well as later industrial remains gives significant insights
into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time.
Stone alignments, such as Stalldown, with its associated cairns, provide
rare evidence of ceremonial or ritual practices on the Moor during the Late
Neolithic and Bronze Age.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Baring-Gould, S, 'Trans. Devonshire Assoc.' in Fourth Report of the Dartmoor Excavation Committee, (1897), 146-7
Davidson, C J, Seabrook, R A G, 'Proc. Devon Arch. Soc.' in Stone Rings on South East Dartmoor, , Vol. 31, (1973), 31
Emmett, D D, 'Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings' in Stone Rows: The Traditional View Reconsidered, , Vol. 37, (1979), 107,111
Grinsell, L V, 'Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings' in Dartmoor Barrows, , Vol. 36, (1978), 137
Robinson, R, Cosford, J, 'Proc Devon Arch Soc' in Dartmoor Multiple Stone Circles, , Vol. 44, (1986), 166-170
Other
Devon County SMR (SX 66 SW-034),
Devon County SMR (SX 66 SW-051),
Devon County SMR (SX 66 SW-052),
Devon County SMR (SX 66 SW-053),

Source: Historic England