Drizzlecombe or Thrushelcombe is an area of
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers .
The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...
in the county of
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
, England, containing a number of
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
stone rows,
cairns and
menhir
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found ...
s.
There are three principal stone rows each with an associated barrow and terminal menhir. Most of the artifacts are on the southwest slope of
Hartor Hill. The tallest menhir, which at high is the largest on Dartmoor, was re-erected by
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,2 ...
,
R. Hansford Worth and others in 1893.
[http://www.dartmoortrust.org/archive/12338 The Dartmoor Trust Drizzlecombe Menhir, Sheepstor]
Drizzlecombe is located on the western side of Dartmoor, about east of the village of
Yelverton, to the west of the upper reaches of the
River Plym
The River Plym is a river in Devon, England. It runs from Dartmoor in the centre of the county southwest to meet the River Meavy, then south towards Plymouth Sound. The river is popular with canoeists, and the Plym Valley Railway runs alongsi ...
.
Nearby is the large but damaged cairn known as ''Giant's Basin''; many of its stones were removed by warreners to build their
rabbit-warrens at Ditsworthy, lower down the river. Higher up the slope and overlooking these monuments is a village of stone
hut circles, akin to the one at
Grimspound
Grimspound is a late Bronze Age settlement, situated on Dartmoor in Devon, England. It consists of a set of 24 hut circles surrounded by a low stone wall. The name was first recorded by the Reverend Richard Polwhele in 1797; it was probably ...
. To the north-east lie the extensive remains of
Eylesbarrow tin mine and north-west is the concentric
Yellowmead stone circle. The area also includes the Neolithic
Dartmoor kistvaens
Dartmoor kistvaens are burial tombs or cists from the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, i.e. from c 2500 BC to c 1500 BC. Kistvaens have been found in many places, including Dartmoor, a area of moorland in south Devon, England. The box-lik ...
, or tombs.
Notes
References
*
{{European Standing Stones
Bronze Age England
Dartmoor
Archaeological sites in Devon
Bronze Age sites in Devon