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Summary

Longhouse thought to date to the 13th century joined to adjacent barn by a yard. Excavated in the 1960s, a wattle and daub chimney hood was uncovered, collapsed on top of a granite hearth stone. Pottery found was 14th century, later than that recovered from Houndtor village, indicating continuing occupation.

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

• LONGHOUSE (Built, Early Medieval - 1066 AD to 1399 AD (Between))
• YARD (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. The stone 13th century longhouse was divided into three rooms. A rectangular barn had been built parallel to the longhouse and was linked to it by an enclosed yard.

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

Depicted by Butler; building 5. Longhouse, measuring 11.7 by 4.1 metres at the centre. It has tapering sides and was divided into three rooms, the lower a byre with central drain. Above opposing entrances, the excavators found a wattle and daub chimney hood collapsed on top of a granite hearth-stone. The inner room was a step up on the other side of the cross wall, which had a cupboard recess at ground level. Most of the coarse pottery found was of the 14th century, a type not found within the village. The lack of associated wares dated before about 1350 suggests the farmstead continued to be occupied during the latter half of the century, by which time the village nearby had probably been abandoned.

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, J on Fig 2 (Report - Survey). SDV361522.

The southern building (j on Fig. 2), which sits 8.5 metres south-east of the first (MDV122297), comprises a longhouse with an inner room on the southern end and an external yard attached to the northern side, all built using random drystone technique. The longhouse is 11 metres long by up to 3.5 metres wide, with central door openings on both long walls. The inner room measures 2 metres by 3 metres. The external yard is 8 metres long by 3.8 metres with an entrance on the northern corner.

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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