The menhir on Shoveldon (also know as Shovel Down) is one of only 12 menhirs still standing on the open moor. It is one of the taller menhirs on Dartmoor at a 3.1m, but still far shorter than the tallest at Drizzlecombe of 4.2m, and it is sited at an altitude of 420m, compared with the highest, Beardown Man which is at an altitude of 542m. It is estimated to weigh about 4 tons. The Dartmoor Menhirs were erected during the bronze age, which makes them approximately 3,500 years old.
Most of the Dartmoor Menhirs have other bronze age features associated with them and the Longstone is associated with a double stone row and with two other double rows and two single rows which make up the Shoveldon complex.
I would like to thank the Dartmoor National Park Authority for their kind permission to allow me to place this cache.