New Stone Row on Dartmoor

A new stone row has recently been built on Dartmoor near Hay Tor. In contrast to the earlier examples the purpose and date of this one are beyond doubt.  This line of stones has been constructed to prevent vehicles straying onto the moor from the nearby car park and by the looks of it we can be fairly sure that it was erected earlier this year. Could it be possible that the prehistoric rows were built to serve a similar purpose – denoting an edge between different activities? Morphologically this row is similar in character to many of the others on the moor and the National Park Authorities of the future will need to be careful that its origins are not forgotten and it is misinterpreted.