Sight · Dartmoor National Park
Two Bronze Age circles make a figure eight on the moor
Overview
The commonly described approach starts at Fernworthy Reservoir, follows a forest track to a gate, then continues across open moor. Intersecting forestry tracks make route-finding confusing; use the route shown on OS Explorer OL28. This is a walking destination rather than a roadside stop, and the exact distance and time from the usual start are not established here. Sittaford Tor can be added for a higher view over the moor.
Parkwolf’s verdictA walk from FernworthyMap
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Dartmoor Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Dartmoor National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Fernworthy Reservoir and Potter’s Walk“You're coming up on Fernworthy Reservoir, a water-and-woodland stop near Chagford. The short Potter's Walk follows the shore to the dam, then turns inland past a disused granite quarry and Bronze Age hut circles.”
Plays as you drive up to Grey Wethers Stone Circles in the Parkwolf Dartmoor Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
The Grey Wethers are a pair of Bronze Age stone circles on grassy, open moor below Sittaford Tor. Set close together, the rings make a figure-eight shape. The northern circle measures 31.5 metres across and has 20 upright stones; the southern is 33 metres across with 29. Walking around them gives a close look at the different spacing and silhouettes against the wide, treeless setting.
The scheduled monument extends beyond the circles to include three round cairns, two ring cairns and an oval enclosure. Its position at the head of three rivers may point to a ritual landscape with significance beyond the immediate area. Excavations in the late 19th century found charcoal above the original ground surface. A shallow trench through the southern circle may be a trace of that work, so it is worth noticing as you walk around the stones.
Wildlife
32 sightingsWestern Roe DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
10 sightingsRed FoxMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
37 sightingsEuropean RabbitMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
19 sightingsGrey HeronMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
34 sightingsGreat Spotted WoodpeckerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
20 sightingsCommon RavenMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Dartmoor. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingFernworthy Reservoir to Winney’s Down12 km · 6.5 hr · 3.1 km awayA full day crossing wet moor to a peat cutters’ shelter.
EasyPotter's Walk1.2 km · 45 min · 3.1 km awayA gentle reservoir loop past the dam and Bronze Age hut circles.
ChallengingGunpowder Trail to Powdermills6.1 km · 2.5 hr · 4.4 km awayA rough moorland walk to Devon’s only gunpowder works ruins.
EasyBellever Forest Easy Access Trail0.6 km · 15 min · 6.2 km awayA level forest path reaches a picnic spot on the East Dart.
EasyCycle and Tramper Trail at Bellever Forest3.9 km · 1.5 hr · 6.2 km awayA forest loop with archaeology on mostly surfaced tracks
ModerateThe Lych Way20.1 km · 6.8 hr · 6.2 km awayA full-day moor crossing to an old church, with river fords.
Sight · 1.9 km awayFernworthy Stone CircleA small stone ring within a much wider prehistoric landscape.
Sight · 2.8 km awayFernworthy ReservoirAn easy reservoir walk with Bronze Age remains and quiet water views
Restaurant · 4.2 km awayWarren House InnA high-moor pub with deep roots in tin mining.
Sight · 4.3 km awayPostbridge Clapper BridgeA granite clapper bridge still carries walkers over the East Dart.
Visitor center · 4.4 km awayNational Park Visitor Centre, PostbridgeA Bronze Age burial survived in peat with beads and fur intact.
Sight · 4.5 km awayScorhill Stone CircleA wide, unrestored granite ring above the North Teign.
Campground · 4.9 km awayRunnage Farm CampsiteA quiet, no-hookups base for simple nights on the moor.
Sight · 6.2 km awayBellever ForestRiverside picnics, working woodland and Bronze Age remains.Parkwolf’s Dartmoor ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
