VI.

ANTIQUARIAN INVESTIGATIONS IN THE FOREST OF DARTMOOR, DEVON; BY SAMUEL ROWE, B. A. MEMBER OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION.

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 historians, will by no means justify the neglect of the antiquary; since the very barrenness which deters others from any investigation in a region so unpromising, often secures the most favourable field for his researches.

Finding in the mountains and morasses of Dartmoor the most authentic vestiges of a period of chronology, of which so little that is authentic remains to us, I cannot bring myself to

join in the lamentations* over the sterility of the district, which the mention of its name usually calls forth. Grand as they are in themselves, the hills and tors of Dartmoor acquire additional interest as the guardians and preservers of relics, which in more accessible, and more attractive spots, would have shared the fate of too many of their kindred, and disappeared under the tool of the workman. Such tracts of country afford still some shelter from the various modes of destruction, arising from multiplied population and increasing commercial speculations, which have pursued the vestiges of past ages from one retreat to another, like the antient Britons retiring before successive invaders, until the mountainous districts of the western and south-western parts of the kingdom afford them the only protection. In these districts, therefore, the antiquary naturally looks for the vestiges of this people and their times; and as many of the most interesting relics are in hourly danger of spoliation, the notices in the following paper have been collected and published, with the hope that some may escape impending destruction, and that others may be preserved from that oblivion which appears to endanger the very memory of their existence.

Of almost all the relics of Druidical antiquity, the moorland districts of Devonshire afford specimens, which, generally speaking, 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 curiosities of Dartmoor, records only three remarkable things:-viz. the Stannary Parliament seats on Crockern Tor, Childe of Plymstock's tomb, and Wistman's

* On the contrary the apostrophe which the hills of Dartmoor call forth is that of Wordsworth

Hail usages of antient mould,

And ye that guard them, mountains old!

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.

Of these several relics of the olden time, I proceed to give some notices collected from personal observation, made during the summers of 1827 and 1828, by the following members of the Plymouth Institution:-Mr. Henry Woollcombe, Major Hamilton Smith, Mr. John Prideaux, and myself. The following paper, containing the results of our united researches has been drawn up for publication in the Transactions of the society, at the request of my estecined coadjutors.

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 accidents of nature have more to do with the decision of matters of this kind than we are usually free to allow. The colossal architecture of Egypt had its birth in the granite quarries of that country— the bituminous plains of Babylon suggested the employment of brick in the construction of the vast edifices of that gorgeous city. The granite tors of Cornwall and Devon in like manner, 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, imperishable as the hill from whence they were raised.

Although the Druidical doctrines inculcated the opinion that the Deity regarded not the worship which was paid to

him in temples, whose canopy was less comprehensive and sublime than the expanse of heaven; they held it indispensable, that certain spots should be dedicated to his peculiar service: and so profound was the respect with which the dogmas of this extraordinary priesthood were regarded, that they appear to have had nothing more to effect for the preservation of their sanctuaries from violation, than to mark their limits by some well defined boundary—a boundary which should denote the extent of the sacred area without obstructing the view of the rites and ceremonies therein performed. This object, which the Hellenic nations accomplished by celebrating their sacred rites in front of their temples and beneath their porticoes, the Druids attained by means of a circular fence of unwrought granite masses, rude from the neighbouring tor.

Such are the sacred circles found on Dartmoor, in a state as might be expected more or less perfect. They are of various dimensions, and constructed of moorstone blocks of irregular shapes, and by no means uniform in size. Taking a general view of monuments of this class in our island, some antiquaries have fixed the number of stones as varying from twelve to twenty-seven; and state that they are more frequently found of the former number than of any other; this conjecture, however, seems to be much at variance with conclusions founded on actual observation. We have found them consisting of ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, twenty-five, and twentyseven stones. The size of the stones varying from eighteen inches in height to five feet. The circumference of the circle. varies from twelve yards to one hundred and twenty, which is the size of the Grey Wethers, the largest yet discovered on the moor.

The sacred circle sometimes has a cairn or kistvaen within the inclosure-sometimes is found in connexion with avenues— sometimes in connexion with others-and in one instance it contains two concentric circles within its circumference. This

description of circle is at once distinguished from the hut circle, or ruined dwelling, by the position of the stones composing it, which are always set up at intervals of greater or less extent; whereas the hut circles have the stones set as closely together as the nature of the construction would permit.

The most striking of the sacred circles are those near Sittaford tor in the centre of the moor, and that on Gidleigh common. The former are known to the moormen by the name of the Grey Wethers; and are two circles, whose circumferences almost touch each other. They were originally constructed of twenty-five stones each; nine remain erect in one, and seven in the other. These masses have been selected with care, being slabs, tolerably level in the upper edge; the largest is fallen-it is four feet nine inches wide, less than a foot thick, and must have stood about five feet high. Diameter of both circles, one hundred and twenty feet.

The Gidleigh circle consisting of stones, which are for the most part pointed, presents a very different aspect from the Grey Wethers. They are thirty-seven in number, ten of which are fallen. The highest of those in their original position, is eight feet above the ground; the medium height of the largest number is about four feet and a half, the smallest stone is three feet. Diameter of the circle, ninety feet.

The avenues* or parallel lines of erect stones appear to have excited little attention, yet the peculiarity of their appearance connot fail immediately to strike a spectator. They are sometimes found singly, and sometimes in pairs, but always in connexion with other British relics, and most commonly with the sacred circle.

* The word avenue is not altogether satisfactory, but we are at a loss for a more descriptive term.