A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
November 27, 2025
Biblical Inscriptions
One of the more unusual ‘set’ of artefacts on Dartmoor are a number of Rocks / Stones are those which have Biblical Inscriptions on them. The author is aware of at least four locations (excluding Churches and Graveyards) which have these ecumenical works.
The most well known of these are the Ten Commandment Stones (or tablets) on Buckland Beacon, which were engraved in Summer 1928 as a commemoration of Parliament’s rejection of the proposed book of Common Prayer.
A less well known Biblical Inscription is on the ‘Heath Stone’ (a way point for the 1240 Perambulation), which was inscribed in 1979 by Sydney Potter, the then supervisor of the Fernworthy Reservoir, which has text from John 14 v 6 on it. Also perhaps less well known are the Three Fishes Stones on the Heathercombe Estate which were erected between 1969 and 1977 by Claude Pike as a doxology to the Lord’s Prayer.
Finally and probably the most obscure Biblical Inscription the author is aware of is on a single stone at Hexworthy (Hooten Wheals) Mine. This stone faces downwards, thus making it difficult to locate and is one of Dartmoor’s unsolved curiosities. It is likely the crude inscription on this stone is from mid 20th century, by hand unknown, and has text from Luke 18 v 13. It is unlikely to have been related to the mining operations here.
If anyone reading this post is aware of any other Biblical Inscriptions within the National Park, the author would be delighted in hearing from them.
The four groups or individual rocks with Biblical Inscriptions; Top Left – Ten Commandments, Top Right – Heath Stone, Bottom Left – Three Fishes Stones, Bottom Right – Hexworthy Mine Stone
Part 1 – Ten Commandments Stones
An early photograph of the Ten Commandment Stones (or Tablets) on Buckland Beacon. The carving of the stones on commenced on 23rd July 1928 and was was undertaken by a W. Arthur Clements (from Exmouth). Whilst he was undertaking the work (he finished on 31st August 1928) he lived in a small hut on the fringe of the woods below the Beacon. The hut was little more than a cattle shed and the only light he had was a candle. He used to wash in a nearby stream. The Lord of the Manor (Mr William Whitley) wished to commemorate the rejection of Parliament of the proposed new book of common prayer in 1928 as he considered it to be a “victory for the Protestants over popish trends” so he had the stones engraved.An early postcard of the Ten Commandment Stones. The prominent dates on the left hand stone are 15th December 1927 (the date Parliament first debated the bill for the adoption of the proposed new Book of Common Prayer) and 14th June 1928 (when the bill was rejected). A view of the stones from 2020. During the period when the ‘tablets’ were being inscribed Mr Whitley would often ride up to the Beacon with his dogs to see how Arthur Clements was progressing. Clements gave him the nickname of Moses!The Bible states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses directly from God on two tablets of stone. The Ten Commandments are mentioned at: Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13 and Deuteronomy 10:4. In all sources, the terms are translatable as “the ten words”, “the ten sayings”, or “the ten matters” (ref: Wikipedia). The left hand tablet has the first four commandments and the right hand tablet the remaining six. That said, there is additional text and references on the stones which make for an interesting considerationThe left hand tablet has the first four of the commandments, above which is an inscription starting ‘I AM’ then ‘Ex. 3 14’, then ‘THE LORD THY GOD’. Below the commandments are the dates referring to the reading and rejection by Parliament of the bill adoption of the proposed new Book of Common Prayer. Below that there is the inscription ‘JOB 33 v 14’ then part of the hymn by James Cowden Wallace which starts ‘BUT THERE’S A POWER WHICH MAN CAN WIELD……..’ Each of the inscriptions additional to the first four commandments is now considered in this post.
At the top of the left hand tablet the inscription starting ‘I AM’ then ‘Ex. 3 14’ refers to Exodus 3 v 14 as shown in the panel above.
Underneath the dates of the Parliament bill reading and rejection is reference to JOB 33 v 14. The panel above shows the full text for verse 14. Also shown are verses 15 through 18. JOB 33 has a total of 33 verses. Does this passage make an inferred reference to Parliament? One wonders exactly why Whitley had this added.
The final inscription on the left hand tablet is part of a hymn by James Cowden Wallace* called ‘There is an eye that never sleeps’. The inscription appears to be from verse 3 and the first four letters from verse 4. This is said to have been a favourite quotation of Mr Whitley. * Wallace was born at Dudley, circa 1793. He was brother of the Rev. Robert Wallace (1791-1880), Professor of Theology in Manchester New College, and author of Antitrinitarian Biography. J. C. Wallace was Unitarian minister at Totnes, 1824, and afterwards at Brighton and Wareham. He died at Wareham in 1841. He was a prolific hymn writer, and contributed various other poetical pieces to the Monthly Repository.
The right hand tablet has the final six commandments, below which has further inscriptions, which were added since it was found that there was quite a big space left. The first additional inscription is ‘Deuteronomy 4 vv 2 6 8’ then an inscription starting ‘A NEW COMMANDMENT….’ which comes from John 13 v 34. Finally there and inscription which starts: ‘BEFORE THE HILLS IN ORDER STOOD…’ which is part of a hymn by Isaac Watts from 1708 that paraphrases the 90th Psalm of the Book of Psalms. Each of the inscriptions additional to the final six commandments is now considered in this post.Deuteronomy 4 vv 2 6 8 inscription is likely to refer to the four verses shown in the above panel. Verse 2, does refer to ‘the commandments of the LORD your God…’The inscription referring to part of John 13 v 34John 13 v 34 is part of 7 verses where Jesus predicts Peter’s denial as indicated in the panel aboveThe final inscription of the right hand tablet is part of a hymn by Isaac Watts from 1708 that paraphrases the 90th Psalm of the Book of Psalms. The hymn title is “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” (or “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”). The 90th Psalm v 2, from King James Bible actually states: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God”. This inscription could be considered quite profound given the location of the hills and tors of Dartmoor around Buckland Beacon
The full hymn by Isaac Watts that paraphrases the 90th Psalm. The inscription on the right hand tablet is the third verse
Part 2 – The Heath Stone
Heath Stone (Langestone or Hethstone) is a waypoint on the Dartmoor Perambulation set in 1240Heath Stone (Langestone or Hethstone) with its inscription: ‘Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the light’. It was cut in 1979 by Sydney Potter, the then supervisor of the Fernworthy Reservoir. It is thought is was Potter displaying his convictions that he incurred censure of what Hemery describes as, “officialdom.”Heath Stone (Langestone or Hethstone) inscribed date: ‘Sept 1979’.Sidney Potter’s inscription on the Heath Stone comes from John 14 v 6. The above panel is the context of the phrase
Part 3 – Heathercombe – Three FishesStones
The Three Fishes Stones at Heathercombe. They are inscribed ‘Thine is the Power’ (1), ‘And the Kingdom’ (2), ‘And the Glory’ (3). They were erected between 1969 and 1977 by Claude Pike as a doxology to the Lord’s Prayer. The three fishes are representations of the early symbol of the Christian belief which reflected the faith of Claude Pike, who lived at and owned Heathercombe estate. In a religious context the symbol of three fishes generally relate to the Holy Trinity, namely Father, Son and Holy Ghost.The panel above shows the end of the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6 v 13 (King James Bible). If we take the three stones in order (1, 2 then 3), the inscriptions read: ‘Thine is the Power, and the Kingdom, and the Glory’, which is different from the King James Bible, Matthew 6 v 13 version. The words ‘Power’ and ‘Kingdom’ appear to have been swapped by on the Claude Pike stones. There is no mention of this “error” in the publication ‘Heathercombe – The History of a Dartmoor Valley’, written by Claude PikeThe Three Fishes stone no. 1 ‘Thine is the Power’ was erected in 1969 and stands at the junction of the Heathercombe lane and the Natsworthy road.The ‘Thine is the Power’ stone can be found at SX72450 80850. F.H (Harry) Starkey, in his 1984 publication Odds and Ends from Dartmoor, states: “… The Fishes Stones were erected in the 1960’s and 70’s by the owner of the estate. The intention I am told, was to demonstrate his concern over the world-wide abuse of power. The result has been the erection of three beautiful and dignified artefacts to add to the splendours of the Dartmoor landscape”.Three fishes stone no. 2 ‘And the Kingdom’ was erected at Easter 1971 (Hemery states 1972). It is located at the top of the steep lane which leads to Higher Heathercombe. It is located at SX71661 81023.The set of three stones are mentioned in the John Hayward book Dartmoor 365 (1991 edition) on page 154, with designation I16. John Hayward correctly quotes the descriptions of all the three stones, however, Eric Hemery in his book High Dartmoor (1983) on page 722 unfortunately incorrectly quotes stone no. 2 as being inscribed “Thine in the Kingdom” and stone no. 3 as being inscribed “Thine is the Glory”.‘And the Glory’ stone is located just inside the boundary of the estate on the west side and was the last to be erected in 1977 according to the Claude Pike publication – In High Dartmoor, Eric Hemery (page 722) suggests it was erected at Easter 1976. Alongside this stone are two memorial stones erected by the Pike family. In his 1993 book entitled Heathercombe – The History of a Dartmoor Valley (page 91), Claude Pike states “These stones record the owner’s philosophy of mans’ stewardship; power derived from whatever source, to be exercised responsibly as a steward. Similarly, the Kingdom – all one’s worldly assets to be held on trust; and finally, the beneficial outcome to be for the Glory of the Lord“.
Part 4 – Inscribed Stone at Hexworthy Mine
The author first became aware of this stone in a collection of slides of C.E (Ted) Birkett-Dixon*. It was amongst a group of photographs from Hexworthy (Hooten Wheals). The stone from the slide picture appeared to be inscribed: ‘GOD BE MERCI / FUL TO ME / A SINNER’.
*The author is honoured to have met Ted through night walking in the 1990s. He was given access to Ted’s slides by his daughter Gillian. Campaigner Kate wrote in a obituary blog: “Ted was once the vice-president of the Dartmoor Preservation Association, and knew Richard Hansford Worth, the great Dartmoor antiquarian. Hansford Worth was the official Recorder of Barrows for the Devonshire Association, and Ted became Hansford Worth’s eyes and ears on the moor, acting on instructions to undertake investigations. Following Hansford Worth’s death in 1950 Ted took on the mantle of Recorder of the Barrows, stating in the seventieth report: ‘I shall do my best in attempting to maintain the standard of reports prepared by my predecessor’ “Having made a few unsuccessful attempts to locate the stone at Hexworthy (Hooten Wheals) Mine using Ted Birkett-Dixon’s photograph, the author contacted Dr Tom Greeves (as a leading authority on all things relating to the Dartmoor Tin). Tom sent the author this photograph from April 2000 and provided some helpful directions in locating the stoneOn a bright, cold November morning the author set out to Hexworthy (Hooten Wheals) Mine with directions given to him by Dr Tom Greeves to find the stone. After some ‘false starts’ through turning over around half a dozen inscribed stones, the author finally found the correct stone! Collage of the Hexworthy Mine Stone: Top Left – Ted Birkett-Dixon from probably 1970s or 1980s, Top Right – Dr Tom Greeves from April 2000, Bottom Left – The authors photograph from November 2025, Bottom Right – The authors photograph of a mud painted inscription from November 2025The readable portion of the inscription on the Hexworthy Mine Stone ‘God be merciful to me a sinner’ comes from Luke 18 v 13 (King James Bible)
For any Dartmoor enthusiast familiar with Hexworthy (Hooten Wheals) Mine, this picture provides a context as to its location. After the ‘mud painting’ the author placed it back in position for the next visitor to discover it
More contextual pictures of the Hexworthy Mine StoneThe Hexworthy Mine Stone is located in the former 1905 Tin Mill The Hexworthy Mine Stone cleaned off with water and a brush Dimensions and estimated weight of the Hexworthy Stone. Note that the stone is very heavy if contemplating turning it over.Mud makeover. The inscription is very crude (the author missed putting mud in the ‘A’ at bottom left). The top line appears to include the numbers 7 then 58, which has been speculated as being from 1958, making the inscription 67 years old but post dates the mine. The Dr Tom Greeves picture from 2000 is much better that the mud makeover as the sunlight and shadows pick out the inscription much better
