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Summary

Originally a hut circle, this was later incorporated into a medieval building. Part of the curved hut exterior can be seen at the south-western corner of the building. Excavated in the late 1960s, no prehistoric finds were recovered. Lies parallel to the longhouse, connected to it by an enclosed yard.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1016255: Prehistoric and medieval settlements and their field systems at Hound Tor

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HUT CIRCLE (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC (Between))
• BARN (Built, Early Medieval - 1066 AD to 1399 AD (Between))

Full description

Minter, E. M., 1962-1963, Interim Reports and Plan, 339 (Article in Serial). SDV307242.

Minter, E. M., 1965, Interim Report, 211-212 (Article in Serial). SDV307266.

Beresford, G., 1979, Three Deserted Medieval Settlements on Dartmoor: a Report on the Late E. Marie Minter's Excavations, 98-158 (Article in Serial). SDV307264.

Excavated by E. M. Minter. House and two barns built within a subcircular late Bronze Age pound. A rectangular barn had been built parallel to the longhouse and was linked to it by an enclosed yard. The barn had been built into the remnants of one or two prehistoric hut circles.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume One - The East, 52, Map 8.2 (Monograph). SDV299725.

Depicted by Butler; hut circle 2. This hut has been incorporated into a latre longhouse; the curved section remaining outside has been left to butress the exterior. Only the wall of the hut within the barn has been removed. Excavation showed that the original floor had been destroyed and no prehistoric finds were recovered. Two concentric rings of post holes suggested that a timber building may have preceded the hut, although these posts may represent supports for the hut circle roof.

Newman, P. + Probert, S. + Riley, H., 1994, Houndtor Down, Manaton, Devon - A New Survey by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. (Report - Survey). SDV344628.

Newman, P., 2017, An Archaeological Survey of an area affected by burning on Hound Tor Down, Manaton, Devon, 3, H on Fig 2 (Report - Survey). SDV361522.

The second hut circle within the medieval farmstead (H on Fig. 2) was incorporated into one end of the northern of two medieval buildings. The semi-circular arc of the prehistoric structure, comprising inner and outer edge set slabs is still visible on the western corner. The hut may have had an internal diameter of 4 to 5 metres. The remainder of the medieval building into which it was adapted, was constructed using random drystone technique with walls of up to 1.4 metres thick. It is oriented approximately north-east to south-west, with its south-western end built into the base of an escarpment and a single entrance on the south-eastern side. The internal dimensions are 7.8 metres by 3.8 metres with walls up to 0.8 metres high.

National Monument Record, 2018, Pastscape, 1995 (Website). SDV360651.

The remains of the three huts in the area of Houndtor 2 have all been disturbed. One has been reused, one incorporated into a longhouse while the third has been heavily robbed.
There is little more than an arc of stones left of the hut formerly centred at SX 7450079097, from this a diameter of 5.8 metres has been calculated by Butler (citing Probert, S. A. J. and Riley, H. M., 6/02/1995 Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments in England Field Investigation).

Various, 2018-2019, PALs Condition Recording forms, HT3 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

Visited 14/07/2019 Entire area totally inundated with bracken at a height of 1.5m which was too dense to even wade through. Impossible to conduct a meaningful survey of this site.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7556 - Survey on Hound Tor Down
• EDV7557 - Excavation of Houndtor farmstead

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