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Summary

An oval enclosure of probable Bronze Age date is recorded from field investigation and aerial survey, defined by a stony bank and slight ditch on the north-facing slopes of Shaugh Moor. The bank incorporates the earthworks of a 3 presumably contemporary hut circles. The enclosure is visible on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards and identifiable on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1002517: Pounds and hut circles N of Saddlesborough

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE43
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439232
• Old SAM County Ref: 428

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSED HUT CIRCLE SETTLEMENT (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC) + Sci.Date

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK/1190, RAF/106G/UK/1190 RS 4234-4235 27-FEB-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363067.

Possible banks are visible as subtle earthworks.

Royal Air Force, 1964, RAF/58/6399, RAF/58/6399 F64 0382-0383 02-JUL-1964 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363068.

Banks and hut circles are visible as recently excavated earthworks.

Worth, R. H., 1967, Worth's Dartmoor, 151 (Monograph). SDV337618.

A pound, said by Worth to have an unfinished trough, cut by stone masons in one of its granite walls with hut circles .

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX56SE43 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV138649.

(04/09/1980) The homestead enclosure is centred at SX 55956348 and is as described by K. Smith (1980).
The single hut is of Type 1 (SX 56 SE 19)
The trough in the S wall of the enclosure appears to have been cut 'in situ'. (See ground photograph).
Of the three huts, the eastern excavated example is of Type 2 (SX 56 NE 71) with walling 1.6m. wide and 0.6m. high.
The others are probably of Type 1, with rubble walls incorporating inner facing slabs, 1.4m. wide and 0.6m. high, but heavily overgrown.
Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. (See plan).

Smith, K., 1980, Typescript notes and plan of Shaugh Moor (Un-published). SDV138646.

(April 1980) A large oval enclosure 53m from north-west to south-east and 43m from south-west to north-east on the north-facing slope with the interior characteristically cleared of all clitter save for large earth-fast boulders. There is no obvious entrance although some possible gaps may have been partially obscured by sheep-tracks. The wall construction is narrow, about 1.00m wide, consisting of monoliths and roughly coursed dry-walling. A characteristic feature is the occurrence of slender upright monoliths in the wall which sometimes occur in pairs. Their purpose is obscure as no useful structural function can have been served other than that of marker stones. Similar monoliths occur in the wall of enclosure 15, (SX56SE42). A square trough in a rough block is let into the wall on its south side. On the north side of the enclosure is a hut 6.50m in diameter. The enclosure wall curves in towards the hut with which it forms a single entity. The hut is
well-preserved with a single entrance facing south-west and with the majority of the inner wall liners still standing.
An incomplete enclosure NW of the main enclosure. It comprises a ruinous arc of walling associated with three hut circles. The chord of this arc is 35.00m long from north-east to south-west and this probably represents the diameter of the original enclosure from which stone was removed to construct the complete and well-preserved main enclosure. The north-east hut is well preserved with an entrance facing south that is defined by two door jambs. The liners are
preserved around the inner wall face and its floor is strewn with small blocks. The hut has an internal diameter of 750m and was excavated by the Plymouth City Museum Archaeology Group under the direction of J Barber (b). Post holes were found beneath the hut wall representing either an earlier hut or timber-lacing for the wall. An arc of post-holes indicated a wind-break outside the hut entrance. The excavation produced charcoal, flint flakes and a scraper and pebbles.
The westernmost hut is 5.50m in diameter and is also attached to the enclosure wall with a south facing entrance. It is overgrown with bracken and the structural details are not clear. The south-western hut is 6.00m in internal diameter and is also attached to the enclosure
wall with a south-facing entrance. The liners of the inner wall face are fairly well preserved.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West (Monograph). SDV137656.

Enclosure A; one of seven enclosures with associated hut circles in the area. It is a double enclosure; the southern, larger unit of the enclosure is best-preserved and incorporates one hut circle in its perimeter wall (measuring 6.5 metres in diameter). The walls of the enclosure are still substantial and are constructed in a decorative manner, with taller slabs regularly spaced around the outside. The associated enclosure to the north of the main enclosure has three huts interrupting its walls, one of which (Hut 4) was excavated in 1960-1963 and radiocarbon dated to approximately 1250 BC. This hut still retains its doorposts at the entrance, which is 0.8 metres wide. Charcoal, flint flakes, pebbles and a scraper were recovered from the excavation, while post holes below the wall showed the stone building replaced an earlier structure of timber. Other details: Map 48, 3.

Fletcher, M. + Probert, S., 1998, Shaugh Moor, Devon: An Archaeological Survey (Report - Survey). SDV343481.

(03/12/1997) Centred SX55956349. An impressive and well preserved enclosure which incorporates one hut circle is located on a slight boulder-covered slope on the north-facing hillside of Saddlesborough at 268m above OD. To the north-west an 'annex' comprises three hut circles each linked by a curvilinear boulder/stone wall. The enclosure has a double-faced wall with a boulder/stone core which on the downhill side is spread to 2.6m wide and is on average 0.6m high. There is a slight ditch on the external side of the wall on the uphill side which may be a drainage channel. Gaps in the walling on the south-east side each about 0.6m wide may be modern mutilations.
The position of the entrance is not clear but there are a number of narrow gaps in the wall notably in the north-east quadrant. The hut circle at SX55966350 has clearly been utilised by the enclosure wall. It measures 9.0m in overall diameter and the boulder and stone faced walling is 1.2m wide and 0.5m high. The position of the entrance is not clear. The three hut circles to the north-west lie on a slight north-facing slope.
SX55936352. This hut measures 11.0m in diameter with a level interior 7.4m across. The walling comprises a boulder/stone core with internal and external facing slabs on average 0.6m high. The entrance marked by two orthostats is in the south-west quadrant.
SX55916351. This hut measures 8.2m in diameter with a level interior some 6.0m (north-south) by 5.3m. The wall comprises a ring of inner facing slabs, on average 0.5m high with an outer facing of low earthfast boulders retaining a stone/boulder core. It has been disturbed and the entrance was located either in the north-east or south-west.
SX55916353. This hut measures 8.1m (north-south) by 7.7m with a level interior 4.7m in diameter. The walling comprising a boulder/stone core with inner and outer facing slabs is 0.5m high. The entrance is probably on the north side. They are linked by a boulder/stone wall 0.5m high. There is much evidence of surface stone quarrying in the form of stone pits and both wedge and drill split rocks. At SX55956349, within the enclosure, is a clearance cairn, comprising a pile of boulders and stone, 1.5m across and 0.3m high.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5563 31-MAY-2016 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

Possible banks are visible as subtle earthworks.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5563 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

Possible ditches are visible as subtle earthworks.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2021, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

A stony bank 1.5m to 3m wide and shallow ditches of similar width are visible as subtle earthworks on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards, defining a possible D-shaped enclosure approximately 34 by 29m across on the north-facing slopes of Shaugh Moor.
The enclosure is interpreted as probably of Bronze Age date, one of several such enclosures recorded on Shaugh Moor.
Stonework is visible within the bank material, most clearly on the north-west side of the enclosure, and interpreted as evidence of a ruined wall.
The ditches defining the possible southern edge of the enclosure are very subtle earthworks identifiable only from low resolution lidar data. It is possible that the ditches are evidence of stone robbing.
Three roughly circular enclosed areas circa 5 to 7m in diameter are visible as earthworks incorporated into the circuit of the possible enclosure. These are interpreted as the remains of probably contemporary hut circles (MDV125904, MDV125905, MDV125906).
The enclosure might be an annexe or earlier phase of the larger enclosure immediately to the south-east (MDV2440)

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)
• EDV4967 - Shaugh Moor Survey (1997-1998)

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