Which one is Fernacre Farm? Is it the one at SX151798? Or maybe the one further along the track at SX157783 (on the east side of Butter’s Tor)? I’m interested to know which area is in dispute / involves argumentative farmers.
When I visited the Stannon, Louden Hill and Fernacre Stone Circles all in one go I drove up through numerous lanes and parked just before Camperdown Farm (SX124791). As I walked past the farm entrance there was a plaque saying that the rest of the track is only for use of Fernacre Farm. Full fieldnotes at http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/browse.php?site_id=9
The only official public footpath I can see on the map in that general area is one that rather strangely starts in the middle of a field on the north side of Butter’s Tor, goes through Garrow Farm and on past King Arthur’s Hall. The OS map legend says that tracks are not necessarily rights of way (NB – I’m just reading what the map says – I’m no expert on the law as regards rights of way).
As a general thing Peter Herring and Peter Rose’s book ‘Bodmin Moor’s Archaeological Heritage” (Cornwall County Council / Cornwall Archaeological Unit – 2001 - ISBN 1898166641) says that “Archaeological sites on Bodmin Moor are on private land, and permission to visit must be obtained from owners and, where appropriate, Commoner’s Associations”. This sounds a bit over-simplistic to me and may be trying to scare people, but it does flag up the idea that ‘commons’ are still controlled by someone.
As an aside, a lot of the area to the south should have good access, unless something has changed since the Annual Report of the Cornwall Archaeological Unit for 1995-96 reported that the farms at Hawktor and Ivey, owned by Mr & Mrs Stansfield, have included their land within a Countryside Stewardship Scheme. This would include good public access in the area, which includes Garrow Hill, Carkees Downs, Scribble Downs and Hawkstor Downs and covers 4.75 square kilometres in all, which is a massive area!
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