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Summary

Prehistoric enclosures to the north-west of Brake Corner due to be considered for scheduling by English Heritage but programme ended prematurely; treated as equal significance to designated sites. This square / rectangular field with internal curved enclosure noted from aerial images.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Prehistoric enclosure to the north-west of Brake Corner

Other References/Statuses

• Dartmoor Non-designated Heritage Asset (Evidential): NI site
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SE/435
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSURE (Early Bronze Age to Early Iron Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 700 BC (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, 2378 (Aerial Photograph). SDV140289.

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

SX 6995 7176 A possible rectangular enclosure or a field visible on aerial photograph extending onto sheet SX77SW.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume One - The East, 117 (Monograph). SDV299725.

Brake Corner enclosure. Circa 300 metres north of Brake Corner the track cuts through a reave which emerges from below the field wall just short of a row of flat slabs covering a drain from the spring uphill. The reave continues below the track where it has been reinforced to form the east side of a roughly square enclosure. Enclosure A: at 91 metres by 83 metres has neatly rounded corners. The side walls are up to 1.5 metres high and spread to 4 metres across with occasional slabs visible within the bank. The contour banks are up to 3 metres high within the uphill side though little above ground level outside. The slope is particularly steep and long-term cultivation has loosened the soil which has gradually washed downhill within the enclosure. The interior has been cleared of surface stone. A rectangular compound has been built on the uphill side within the enclosure having an entrance to the east. It might have been expected to have contained the dwellings but nothing remains apart from two or three circular levelled areas and a short section of walling against the west bank. Enclosure B: is of similar size but the surrounding wall is of a much slighter construction though also typically of the Bronze Age. A single line of slabs embedded in a low bank surrounds an irregular shaped field, uncleared of surface stone. If the enclosure was intended to contain livestock this feeble boundary must have been reinforced in some way, perhaps by hedging. Other details: Map 11, Site 2, Figure 11.1.

Gerrard, S., 2004, List of Sites Remaining to be Considered for Designation on Dartmoor, Site 45 (Un-published). SDV345444.

Prehistoric enclosures west of Poundsgate were considered for designation as a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 2004. Other details: Site 45.

Gerrard, S., 2006, Dartmoor Nationally Important Sites (Cartographic). SDV345607.

Prehistoric enclosures at Brake Corner were considered for Designation as a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 2004. Other details: Site 44.

Environment Agency WMS, 2022, Environment Agency LIDAR Composite DTM 2022 - 1m (Cartographic). SDV365447.

Square enclosure / field plot visible on the lidar data with possible internal enclosure.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8827 - Survey of Mel Tor Wood
• EDV1246 - Widecombe parish Survey

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.