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Summary

The remains of a post-medieval building which cuts through the enclosure of a prehistoric hut circle settlement (SX 67 NW 19) on a south east facing slope overlooking the valley of the Cherry Brook. The building survives as a single roomed dwelling house with an attached linhay. The interior of the house measures 6.3 metres long by 3.5 metres wide and is defined by a faced 0.65 metre wide drystone wall standing up to 1.7 metres high. A fire place survives against the north western wall of the house. The linhay is attached to the south western wall of the house and measures internally 8.3 metres long by 2.6 metres wide, with its open south eastern side being denoted by three substantial orthostats standing up to 1.8 metres high. These orthostats would have originally supported a roof.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1016638: A partially enclosed stone hut circle settlement, two cairns containing cists and a post-medieval building 440m NNW of Powder Mills

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67NW119
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442837
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/152
• Old SAM Ref: 28721.04

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HOUSE (Constructed, XVII to XIX - 1700 AD (Between) to 1900 AD (Between))
• LINHAY (Constructed, XVII to XIX - 1700 AD (Between) to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Two adjoining rectangular buildings shown on 19th century map.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Rectangular building shown on early 20th century map. The south-east side of the former building to the south is no longer present.

Royal Air Force, 1951, 540/483, 3049-3050 (Aerial Photograph). SDV248164.

Photograph taken on 24th April 1951.

Haynes, R. G., 1966-1969, Ruined Sites on Dartmoor, 72, Plan (Un-published). SDV150434.

Site visited on 14th May 1968. A small drystone building north of powder mills farm of one room with adjoining linhay, in fairly good repair. A great deal of the walls remain standing. Open fronted linhay with three orthostats standing to circa 2 metres formerly supporting the roof showing no drill marks and dating the building before 1830. The east end of the building could have been a dwelling but there is no visible fireplace.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX67NW119 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV265665.

(14/12/1979) On a SE slope at 412m OD the remains of a dwelling house and linhay overlying part of an earlier settlement (SX 67 NW 19). Both buildings are of coursed rubble, 0.6m thick and though part of the dwelling is 1.7m high the general height is 1.0m The dwelling is a single room, measuring 6.7m by 4.3m internally, with a collapsed fireplace
midway along the N wall, and a narrow doorway in the SW corner. The linhay, 9.0m by 3.1m has three massive support posts along the open S side. There are no obvious fields in association with the farmstead which, although pre-1820 is certainly post-Medieval and possibly of late 18th century origin.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and at 1.2500 (see plan SX 67 NW 19).

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, Aerial Photograph Project (Dartmoor) - Dartmoor Pre-NMP (Cartographic). SDV319854.

Visible on aerial photograph.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit, P. Pattison (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(19/07/1989) Remains of a small dwelling house and linhay situated at SX 62397785 on a moderate SE slope, overlooking Powder Mills. The two buildings are in series along the contour, the linhay/shed apparently secondary, utilizing the house SW end wall. They are built across the N wall of an oval, prehistoric enclosure (see SX 67 NW 19) which provided a convenient cleaved area in the surrounding clitter.
A short section of wall just breaking turf 13m to the SE of the range and parallel to it may be connected; perhaps the remains of a small enclosed pit.
Both structures are well built; of random coursed drystone ranging from small stones to very large slabs. The dwelling house has a rubble-filled interior measuring 6.7m long and 3.7-4m wide. The linhay is relatively rubble free measuring 8.8 by 2.7 internally, with three massive upright posts 1.8m tall forming the SE front. Both buildings are otherwise as described previously.
The buildings are depicted as unroofed in 1890 (OS map). It is possible that they were used by a shepherd or stockman looking after animals at the turn of the C18th/C19th. They may be connected with the establishment of Cherrybrook Newtake which took in this area in the first decade of the C19th.

Brewer, K. + Brewer, D, 1988, Building Surveys (Worksheet). SDV171876.

Site Visited on 18th July 1988. House and linhay still visible.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 149297 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

A small dwelling house and linhay 550 metres north-north-west of Powder Mills.

White, P., 2013, Previously Unsurveyed Dartmoor Historic Farmsteads, Longaford Tor (Un-published). SDV352501.

Longaford Tor farm building.

Ordnance Survey, 2016, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359352.

Small rectangular building shown on modern mapping with open linhay to the south.

Historic England, 2016, National Heritage List for England, 1016638 (National Heritage List for England). SDV359353.

Building within the Scheduled area of the Prehistoric settlement.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8645 - Powder Mills and Gawler Newtake, Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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