Cists, ancient stone burial tombs from around 2500 to 1500 BC, can be found near Two Bridges on Dartmoor. These box-like structures, often located in the centre of cairn circles, are unique to Dartmoor, with over 180 known cists, many of which may still be buried beneath unexplored mounds. The orientation of these tombs, with their longer axis facing northwest to southeast, suggests a deliberate alignment with the sun.
Dartefacts is a database of Dartmoor sites with far more close-up detail than we can show here, and it is the best place to go deeper. Dartefacts is free to use, and nobody has to pay to look things up. If you want more, a yearly subscription adds 10-figure grid references, map zoom down to 1:25,000 and lists to tick off the places you have visited, and it helps keep the site going. We would encourage you to subscribe.
Hawthorn at Round Pound. Photograph by Glavind Strachan Photography
“Let him now give his pony his head, and he will pick his own way, in such a path, much better than the rider could do it for him with the bridle. My little shaggy Dobb carries me up this hill as quietly as a lamb; I let the rein hang loose on my arm, and, whilst he paces gently on, amuse myself ...”
Also on Our DartmoorWarrens — Crumbling stone foundations scattered across open moorland, marking where rabbit warrens once sustained medieval communities.
Dartmoor quizPhotograph by Glavind Strachan Photography
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Hawthorn at Round Pound. Photograph by Glavind Strachan Photography