 |
| Merrivale Stone Row at sunset |
The Curate and I still enjoy exploring Dartmoor. The Collie loves the open spaces and we love the ever changing skies and scenery. But I am also fascinated by the remains of ancient stone structures that we come across. The stone hut circles are thought to belong to the Bronze age and we often come across these circular groups of stones that once formed the base of a Bronze Age hut. They had a conical roof supported by one central pole and the floors were covered in slabs of stone. They are usually in groups and you can begin to imagine the village life that went on in the area.
Recently I rode out to one of the the stone rows that can be found on Dartmoor. Nobody seem quite certain what these were constructed for. You are left to imagine why these long rows of standing stones were placed with considerable effort and skill in the open moorland. This one seemed to run from east to west and may have been aligned with the rising and setting sun.
Another favourite walk for us is to the standing stones at Merrivale. Different times of the day and the changing light seem to change the feel of this ancient site. Dartmoor has a way of getting under my skin. It stimulates the imagination and arouses the senses and makes you stop and stare at its sheer magnificence.
What a fantastic post. Thank you so much. I have always been intrigued with the standing stones, how they came to be where they are, and why they were there. The video gave me a glimps into their history. What must life have been like then. We call our farm Stonehenge, but it is just a bit of a lark. Still the idea of ancient folk, building these sites, is mind-bogling.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos and a stunning landscape! We have stone circles in Orkney too. Their presence in the landscape fascinates me.
ReplyDeleteI too love stone circles and evidence of the lives of our ancestors. Your photographs are wonderful and, in the heat of summer and the fiestas here, make me more than a little homesick for a little greenery underfoot and clouds in the sky as well as that mysterious, silent landscape.
ReplyDeleteAxx
Oh Annie - if only you could see the rain ( or is it the monsoon? ) that is falling at the moment. The gutters are overflowing and the ground is sodden. And this is the start of the bank holiday weekend. Enjoy your fiestas and cloudless skies. Our memories of Spain and the hot summer(and the flies) are very precious to us now.
Delete