Ancient Monuments

History on the Ground

This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.

Stone circle 400m south west of Buttern Hill

A Scheduled Monument in Gidleigh, Devon

We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.

Coordinates

Latitude: 50.6802 / 50°40'48"N

Longitude: -3.913 / 3°54'46"W

OS Eastings: 264938.688218

OS Northings: 88475.489687

OS Grid: SX649884

Mapcode National: GBR Q7.CGMB

Mapcode Global: FRA 27P8.WXH

Entry Name: Stone circle 400m south west of Buttern Hill

Scheduled Date: 26 November 1928

Last Amended: 21 January 1999

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1018913

English Heritage Legacy ID: 28712

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Gidleigh

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Church of England Parish: Gidleigh Holy Trinity

Church of England Diocese: Exeter

Details

The monument includes a stone circle situated on level ground overlooking the
valley of the North Teign River and Whitemoor Marsh. The stone circle measures
24.8m in diameter and is denoted by five upright granite slabs standing up to
0.76m high. A further 19 recumbent stones lie where they have fallen.

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 provide 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 circles, or circular
arrangements of upright stones, were set into the ground and acted as
ceremonial and funerary monuments during the later Neolithic and Bronze Age
periods (c.2400-700 BC). On Dartmoor they are often found in association with
stone alignments and burial monuments such as cairns and cists. The circles
may be single or enclose further circles; they may occur as isolated examples
or in groups. The 26 examples on Dartmoor form one of the most dense
concentrations of monuments of this type in the country. Due to their relative
rarity (with a national population of only some 200 examples) and longevity as
a monument type, all stone circles are considered to be nationally important.

The stone circle 400m south west of Buttern Hill survives comparatively well
and has never been restored or excavated.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Butler, J, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, (1991), 194

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

AncientMonuments.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact AncientMonuments.uk for any queries related to any individual ancient or schedued monument, planning permission related to scheduled monuments or the scheduling process itself.

AncientMonuments.uk is a Good Stuff website.