Cyclopean Bridge, Dartmoor.
Among the features of Dartmoor are the so-called "clapper bridges," made of great blocks of unhewn stone. Their date and their builders are matters of conjecture. If, as has been said, they were meant for pack-horse traffic, they may be at least as old as the time of the Norman Conquest, for packhorses are mentioned in the Exeter Domesday. There are fine examples at Dartmeet, Bellaford, and near Scaurhill Circle. But the most striking and perhaps the most ancient is that at Post Bridge, in which two of the stones are fifteen feet long.
The idea has long been abandoned that Logan or rocking stones were the work of man, or that the rock basins which are found on the top of some of the Dartmoor tors had anything to do with Druidical ceremonies. Both are now recognised as of natural origin. But it may here be noted that the largest of the Devonshire Logans is the Rugglestone, at Widecombe, estimated at from 100 to 150 tons, but it can no longer be moved. The largest that will still rock is one of about fifty tons weight at Smallacombe. The largest of the many rock basins, which vary from a few inches to five feet or more, are on Heltor and Kestor.
[20. Architecture—(a) Ecclesiastical.]
The ecclesiastical buildings of Devonshire,—its magnificent cathedral, which is without doubt the finest example of the Decorated style in all England; its many noble churches, some of which, specially remarkable for their interest and beauty, are situated in remote and thinly-peopled rural parishes; and, in a minor degree, the picturesque fragments of its ruined abbeys—form altogether one of the most striking features of the county. Speaking generally, it may be said that Devonshire churches, as a whole, are remarkable for their interiors, very many of them containing beautiful wood-work, especially rood-screens, and finely-carved stone pulpits, to which, in many instances, the addition of gold and colour has lent a still more striking and even gorgeous effect. Some of the exteriors also are very beautiful; but, on the other hand, many of them, partly on account of the intractable nature of the stone of which they were built, are simple and even severe in character. As might be expected, the material varies with the geological formation. Thus, many churches were built of grey limestone. In East Devon much use was made of flints and of freestone from Beer. Round Exeter and Crediton volcanic tufa was often employed, particularly in vaulting. The use of Old Red Sandstone and even of granite greatly affected the style, which in buildings of those difficult materials is plain and with little ornament.
A large proportion of the churches of Devonshire were more or less rebuilt during the Perpendicular period, that is, between 1377 and 1547; but many, probably even the majority of them, contain features of earlier dates, in a few cases going as far back as Saxon times. Some have been skilfully restored. But in too many cases the work of renewal was carried out in an age when church architecture was imperfectly understood, and when the value of old and beautiful, even if time-worn, details was not sufficiently appreciated; and it is unfortunately true that, in order to accomplish needless or barbarous alterations, many interesting features were ruthlessly swept away.