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Summary

The remains of part of an enclosed hut circle settlement which lies adjacent to and is bisected by a leat which runs to Powder Mills. To the north of the leat there are two hut circles. North of the huts are the remains of enclosure walling averaging 1.8 metres wide and 0.4 metres high. To the south of the leat there two, possibly three hut circles and the remains of the rectilinear enclosure. The monument forms part of an enclosed hut circle settlement with the hut circles recorded at SX 67 NW 121 and 173.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1016635: Gunpowder factory at Powder Mills, a partially enclosed stone hut circle settlement and round cairn

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67NW112
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442816
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/238
• Old SAM Ref: 27818(P)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSURE (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• SETTLEMENT (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, OS 72/066, 028 (Aerial Photograph). SDV262465.

Crop marks, possibly of hut circles are visible at SX 635782.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX67NW112, SX67NW112 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV221607.

(14/12/1979) Centred at SX 635782 on the E slope of Arch Tor, and bisected by a leat, is a settlement of four Type 1 (SX 56 SE 19) hut circles, the remains of one and possibly two enclosures, and some fragmentary walling.
The huts have level interiors measuring from 2.2m to 6.8m in diameter. The walling is of rubble with some boulders and averages 0.9m wide and 0.3m high. Only one hut, 'A' (see ground photograph) has a visible entrance to the SE.
At SX 63567818 there is a rectilinear enclosure measuring about 25m by 46m, its NW side destroyed by the leat. The walling, of rubble and boulders, averages 1.0m wide and 0.3m high. There is a simple entrance in the SE side and a small hut is incorporated within the NE wall.
At SX 63537816, and partly destroyed by the leat, is a small oval enclosure 'C', possibly a pound (see ground photograph). Internally it measures 9.3m by 4.0m with double-faced orthostatic walling and rubble infill measuring 1.8m wide and 0.7m high. There is no visible entrance but this may have been destroyed by the leat.
Two fragments of rubble walling, 1.0m wide and 0.3m high, to the N of hut 'B' are the only evidence of a possible field system in the vicinity of the huts.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and at 1:2500.

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

Not recorded.

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

(20/07/1989) Five, possibly six hut circles, a damaged rectilinear enclosure and fragmentary remains of several other enclosures, situated at SX 635781 on a moderate SE slope amid light clitter, overlooking Gawler Bottom. The features are part of a settlement string along the 390m contour (See also SX 67 NW 121, 171 & 173).
Two groups can be identified:
A northern group, centred SX 63557817, has two hut circles, B and D which may have been connected by walling: several large slabs from a rough line between them. N of the huts are the remains of enclosure walling; low banks or stoney lynchets averaging 1.8m wide and 0.4m high. Two stretches may have formed enclosures directly linked to the huts while a third, on the E side of the Powder Mills leat, is more distant.
A southern group consists of two, possibly three hut circles and parts of two enclosures. At SX 63567808 is a rectilinear enclosure as described by OS (1979). The `small oval enclosure', C, is in fact more probably a large hut circle: although cut by the leat its SE wall is preserved as a pronounced bulge in the leat bank. Consequently, like hut E, it is incorporated in the perimeter of the rectilinear enclosure and there is a vague stoney line between huts C and A.
A further table of information on the stones is held in the NRHE archive.

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

(see related records).

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 43, Map 27 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Settlement east of Arch Tor.

English Heritage, 2005-2008, Prehistoric Survey Information (Cartographic). SDV345521.

Sections of the settlement shown on survey.

Ordnance Survey, 2022, Mastermap 2022 (Cartographic). SDV364674.

'Settlement' shown on modern mapping.

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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