22 



ANTIQUARIAN INVESTIGATIONS ON DARTMOOR. 



ABRIDGED FROM A PAPER, IN THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE 

 PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION, BY REV. S. ROWE, B A. 



The extensive tract of hilly country, which occupies so large a 

 portion of the central districts of Devonshire, has long possessed 

 an invidious celebrity under the name of Dartmoor, as a region 

 whose wildness and sterility have grown into " a proverb and a 

 bye word." This circumstance, however satisfactorily it may 

 account for the slight and general notices which have been usually 

 bestowed upon the Forest of Dartmoor by topographers and his- 

 torians, will by no means justify the neglect of the antiquary ; 

 since the very barrenness which deters others from any investiga- 

 tion in a region so unpromising, often secures the most favourable 

 field for his researches. 



Of almost all the relics of Druidical antiquity, the moorland 

 districts of Devonshire afford specimens, which, generally speak- 

 ing, have been most imperfectly and unsatisfactorily noticed by 

 antiquaries. Cornwall has had more justice in the accurate and 

 laborious notices of Borlase, who has carefully enumerated the 

 relics of that county ; but our Risdon, in mentioning the curiosi- 

 ties of Dartmoor, records only three remarkable things : — viz. the 

 Stannary Parliament seats on Crockem Tor, Childe of Plymstock's 

 tomb, and Wistman's wood. Yet, on the moor and within its 

 precincts, are to be found examples of the sacred circle — avenues 

 — the cromlech — the kistvaen — the rock idol — rock basin — 

 monumental pillar — the cairn, or barrow — dwellings and track- 

 ways. 



In the classification of Druidical antiquities, precedence seems 

 due to the Sacred Circle, both for the importance of its object, 

 and from the circumstance that sacred circles in other places are 

 usually ranked among the most interesting of such relics. The 

 sacred circle was evidently a rude patriarchal temple, such as the 

 genius of the people and of their religion demanded, and for the 

 construction of which the region supplied ample and congenial 

 materials. The granite tors of Cornwall and Devon furnished 

 materials for the apparatus of Druidical worship, abundant in 

 supply, and suitable in form and quality ; as to form, sublime 

 from their rudeness and vastness ; and as to durability, imperish- 

 able as the hill from whence they were raised. 



The sacred circles, found on Dartmoor, are of various dimen- 

 sions, and constructed of moorstone blocks of irregular shapes, 

 and by no means uniform in size. Taking a general view of 



