Details

The monument, which falls into two areas of protection, includes a stone
circle and an associated outlying outlying standing stone situated on a gentle
north facing slope overlooking the valley of the River Dart. The stone circle
measures 25m in diameter and is denoted by five upright granite slabs,
standing up to 1.45m high, which are confined to its south western sector. A
further six recumbent stones lie where they have fallen. The stone circle was
partially excavated in 1904 by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee and their
work revealed the original ground surface covered with charcoal. The standing
stone lies 85m south east of the stone circle and survives as a triangular
shaped block up to 0.86m high, tapering to a roughly rounded top.

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 and outlying stone 570m and 650m south of Forest Inn survive
comparatively well and are known from past excavation to contain environmental
and archaeological information about the use of the site, and the landscape in
which it was located.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Butler, J, 'Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities - The North' in Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, (1993), 202
Butler, J, 'Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities - The North' in Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, (1993), 202

Source: Historic England