Dartmoor Explorations

A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park

Stone Cross Guide Post

At the Stone Cross junction of three roads from Buckland-in-the-Moor, Cockingford Bridge and Cold East Cross, there is a granite direction stone, which is thought to be one of the only dated examples (perhaps the only one) on Dartmoor. Stone Cross Guide Post is incised on three sides and has a date of 1790 on it. The Guide Post is not on a parish boundary and it has been suggested that it probably takes its name from the adjoining Stone Farm 

In 2012 (Fox), the route of a possible droveway from Cockington up onto Dartmoor via Denbury and Waye was recorded. He (Fox) suggested two possible routes around Denbury hillfort, and then suggested a final leg of the droveway, which crossed the East Webbern at the appropriately named Cockingford. This droveway passed by the Guide Post, between Cold East Cross and Cockingford.

Further to this, research from 2018-9 (Jones) suggested that the route identified by Fox was not simply a droveway but a transhumance route running from Cockington (in Torbay) to Cockingford. The records from Fox and Jones are essentially the same with the subtle difference being that a droveway was simply the route for droving livestock on foot from one place to another, and transhumance being a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures.

Bibliography

  1. H.Fox (2012) – Dartmoor’s Alluring Uplands: Transhumance and Pastoral Management in the Middle Ages, 194-209
  2. S.Jones (2018-2019) – Alston Lane Droveway (Un-published)
  3. L.Bray (2017) – Stone Farm (Un-published).
0. Map
This annotated 19th century map shows the original location of the Guide Post. It was re-erected in 1963 when the corner was widened as indicated. It is interesting to note that the nearby farm is called Stone Farm. Is the name ‘Stone’ just a co-incidence? Stone Farm is a deserted farmstead (along a private lane) which appears on the tithe map of 1841. Ownership of the farm can be traced from the 17th century, while a 14th century document reference records a ‘John atte Stone’ thus possibly indicating medieval origin.
1. Guide Post
One side of the Guide Post. The inscriptions here can be seen but are pretty indecipherable. Further cleaning of the post would be needed. The inscriptions are recorded as being A for Ashburton and W for Widecombe with the date 1790
2. Guide Post
Second side of the Guide Post.
3. Guide Post
Contextual location of the Guide Post with lane to Buckland-in-the-Moor behind. The Guide Post is located at SX71950 74546
4. Guide Post
Contextual location of the Guide Post with lane to Cold East Cross behind
5. Signpost
Modern signpost, which is in need of securing back upright. It is located at the approx location where the Guide Post would have stood prior to 1963
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