inscribed as title and dated "1874"
Fernworthy, or Froggymead as it is sometimes known is a fine Bronze Age Stone Circle of twenty-seven granite slabs and blocks that stand in a clearing on a plateau of land within a Forestry Commission plantation about half a mile west of Fernworthy reservoir.
A pair of tiny stones mark a southern entrance (towards the foreground centre in the photograph above). These are flanked by larger stones, the tallest being about 1.1 metres tall, with the stones decreasing in size as they curve round to the north forming a ring of about 20 metres in diameter that is slightly flattened to the east and west.
The circle was excavated by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in 1897 who reported a layer of charcoal within the circle but no other finds. The black and white photo below left was taken 10 years later and shows just how much the modern plantation blocks any views of the surrounding landscape - in fact, the photo reminds me very much of the nearby Grey Wethers double circle just over a mile to the southwest.
There are three stone rows associated with the circle, one to the north, and a pair to the south. The southern pair are badly damaged but each consisted of a double row of stones, one with a battered ring cairn at its northern end and the other marked with a cairn to one end and a cist to the other.
To the southeast of the circle through a clearing in the trees stands a further cairn that has the remains of a bank and about half a dozen kerb stones. This cairn was found to contain a bronze knife, flint knife, beaker, and a shale button.
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land have been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers 954 km2 (368 sq mi).
The granite that forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous Period of geological history. The landscape consists of moorland capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for wildlife. The highest point is High Willhays, 621 m (2,037 ft) above sea level. The entire area is rich in antiquities and archaeological artefacts. Dartmoor National Park is managed by the Dartmoor National Park Authority, whose 22 members are drawn from Devon County Council, local district councils, and the Government. The Dartmoor Commoners' Council exists to create and enforce regulations regarding commoners' rights. Parts of Dartmoor have been used as military firing ranges for over 200 years. The public is granted extensive land access rights on Dartmoor (including restricted access to the firing ranges) and it is a popular tourist destination.
Mary Keightley (1854-1946) was the youngest daughter of Archibald Keightley (1795-1877), executor of Sir Thomas Lawrence’s estate. She was a good amateur artist. Archibald Keightley (1795-1877), who was a solicitor who was the executor for Sir Thomas Lawrence, who had died earlier in 1830. Mr Keightley was responsible for the sale of Sir Thomas's collections, some of which were not paid for! There is a very interesting story about Sir Thomas's collection of old master drawings which were part of the assets Mr Keightley hadto dispose of. Following his work as a solicitor, Mr Keightley a few years later became the Registrar for the Charterhouse School, where he remained for 39 years.
Mary Keightley was born in 1854, in Charterhouse, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom, her father, Archibald Keightley, was 58 and her mother, Sarah Elizabeth Yates, was 41. She lived in London, England for about 20 years and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom in 1891. She died on 20 April 1946, in Camberley, Surrey, England, United Kingdom, at the age of 93.