Almsworthy Common Explained

Almsworthy Common is a small area of unenclosed land in Exmoor, south-western England. It contains a number of archaeological sites.

It is about 2 miles north of Exford roughly 0.5 km² in area, and the Macmillan Way West passes through it, as does the parish boundary between Exford and Porlock. It reaches a height of 453 metres.^[1]

Stone settings are arrangements of upright stones either scattered randomly or in a roughly geometric pattern. They are the most common form of stone monument found on Exmoor, with 57 conclusively recorded examples in this area. A large number are known to have existed but have been destroyed.

560 m south west of Chetsford Bridge is a stone alignment.^{[2] [3]} The archaeologist Aubrey Burl stated that an "eye of faith" was needed to identify "either a ring or a set of rows."The Ordnance Survey list it as a "Stone Circle" on their map. In his 1970 study of the archaeology of Exmoor, Leslie Grinsell thought that it was "probably" a stone circle.

The common is also the site of one of the best preserved hut circles on Exmoor.^[4]

References

Bibliography

• Book: Burl, Aubrey . A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany . 2005 . Yale University Press . New Haven and London . 978-0-300-11406-5 .
• Book: Grinsell, Leslie V. . The Archaeology of Exmoor: Bideford Bay to Bridgwater . 1970 . Newton Abbot . David and Charles . 978-0-7153-4953-3 .
• Book: Riley . Hazel . Wilson-North . Robert . The Field Archaeology of Exmoor . 2001 . English Heritage . Swindon . 1-873592-58-2 .

External links

• Almsworthy at The Megalithic Portal
• Almsworthy at The Modern Antiquarian

51.1627°N -3.6559°W

Notes and References

1. Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map
2. News: Almsworthy Common: a stone alignment 560m south west of Chetsford Bridge . Historic England . 2017-12-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141208100817/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1015017 . 2014-12-08 . dead .
3. Web site: MSO6727 - Prehistoric stone setting on Almsworthy Common. Exmoor Historic Environment Record. Exmoor National Park. 31 December 2017.
4. Web site: MSO6736 - Almsworthy Common Hut Circle. Exmoor Historic Environment Record. Exmoor National Park. 31 December 2017.