Merrivale, Devon
| Merrivale | |
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 Merrivale hamlet and quarry with Staple Tor beyond. The quarry's crane was in the process of being dismantled when this photo was taken. |
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 Merrivale
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| Merrivale shown within Devon | |
| OS grid reference | SX547752 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | YELVERTON |
| Postcode district | PL20 |
| Dialling code | 01822 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Merrivale (formerly also Merivale) is a locality in western Dartmoor, in the West Devon district of Devon, England. It is best known for the nearby series of Bronze Age megalithic monuments to the south and a former granite quarry.
The hamlet, which lies within the civil parish of Whitchurch, is situated at the crossing of the River Walkham on the B3357 (formerly the main Ashburton to road), midway between the towns of Princetown and . There is an older disused bridge to the north of the modern road. The hamlet is dominated by the spoil tip from the former Merrivale granite quarry (originally known as Tor Quarries), which closed in 1997. The few buildings include houses built originally for quarry workers and the Dartmoor Inn, which sells Merrivale Ale. There was once also a Wesleyan chapel.
The main area of archaeological interest is to the south-east of the hamlet at grid reference SX556746. Although it has been diminished over time, the site includes a 3.8m standing stone, a stone circle and a stone row.
Also visible are two stone avenues running parallel to each other on either side of a stream. The southern avenue is 263.5 metres long and has the remains of a barrow in the middle. The northern avenue is slightly shorter. Both avenues are only about 1 metre wide down the centre. The southernmost double row has a kistvaen set within the stone row. The eastern end of the rows is passed by a section of the Great Western Reave, running roughly NW-SE.
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Wikipedia