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Summary

A Bronze Age enclosed hut circle settlement; all huts were excavated in 1896, but unclear which huts are refered to in descriptions. The remains lie on a northerly hillslope and now comprise a D-shaped enclosure wall of boulders and stones containing about twelve hut circles. A small D-shaped enclosure is attached to the uphill south-east side. The northern part of the settlement has been effaced by a tinner's cliff, part of the Hart Tor Brook streamworks. This well preserved settlement now lies under low bilberry bushes. A number of iron ?vents up to 0.4m high each set in a circular concrete base 0.4m in diameter that lie within the settlement and its vicinty indicate some recent disturbance to the site (2007 survey data).

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020129: Tinworks and other archaeological remains in the Meavy valley at Stanlake, Black Tor, Hart Tor and Cramber Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57SE36
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 440130
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57SE/19
• Old SAM County Ref: 298
• Old SAM Ref: 22298

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSED HUT CIRCLE SETTLEMENT (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Unknown source entry (Unattributed Sites and Monuments Register Entry). SDV272815.

Settlement on Raddick Hill marked on Ordnance Survey 6 inch map. A semi-circular enclosure of Legis Tor type containing 11-12 huts. The "pound" wall ends on the banks of a stream; there are two entrances, a narrow one on east side, a wider one inturned at west.
There is a loop of walling to south, suggesting an older enclosure that was more extensive. Excavated by Baring-Gould etc. in 1896 and much pottery found. A late Bronze Age bucket urn which is in Plymouth Museum was found in a cooking hole, as well as other pieces. An important dated type site.

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

Enclosure shown on 19th century map containing nine hut circles.

Baring Gould, S., 1896, Third Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 191-2 plate 10 (Article in Serial). SDV260468.

All huts excavated in 1896. Hut 1. Diameter 10 feet, entrance to south-east. Much fibrous charcoal on floor. Hearth against wall opposite door. No cooking hole. One fragment of coarse pottery, a few cooking stones, and some burnt river stones found.
Hut 2. Much charcoal, a few cooking stones, no hearth or cooking hole found, entrance not clearly distinguishable. Rough piece of flint found.
Hut 3. Diameter 15.4 feet, probable entrance to south-south-west. Paved throughout. Hearth against wall opposite door, slightly raised against a large stone in the wall. To the right of this was the cooking hole under a large slab that had fallen forward from the wall. This slab had protected from destruction a fine vessel of rude handmade pottery occupying the cooking hole and was fairly intact. It measures 10.5 inches high and is 10 inches in diameter at the top. There is a rib 1 inch thick running as a hoop round it 2.5 inches from the lip, and the portion above this is ornamented by zigzags. The bottom of the bowl was rounded.
In this hut, numerous cooking stones were also found and much charcoal, a fine smoothing stone, or rubber', a fine percutor, an oval sparry river pebble that had both its ends bruised and broken by 'use'.
Huts 4 and 5, 7 and 8. No sign of habitation
Hut 6. Much charcoal. Flint scraper, three flint fragments and several burnt cooking stones found.
Hut 9. Distinct cooking hole. Under an in-leaning stone of the circle were fragments of a large cooking pot. Half the entire pot. Bottom of pot flat, ornamented in lines and zig-zags. Hearthstone on east side of hut, not against wall (os).
Hut 10. Piece of flint and some sherds of pottery found.
Hut 11. A scraper, pieces of flint, a muller and fragments of a wide-mouthed shallow pottery vessel found. In centre of circle is a large flat stone, probably used as base for pole to support the roof. The hearthstone is against the side.

Worth, R. H., 1899, 18th Report of the Barrow Committee, 98-99 (Article in Serial). SDV339157.

Barrows on Raddick Hill (R. Burnard).

Burnard, R., 1906, Early Man, 352,353 (Article in Monograph). SDV322231.

Brailsford, J. W., 1938, Bronze Age Stone Monuments of Dartmoor, 454 (Article in Serial). SDV304210.

Worth, R. H., 1945, The Dartmoor Hut Circles, 239-240, 248 fig.8b (Article in Serial). SDV246120.

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/2149, 4438 (Aerial Photograph). SDV282746.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX57SE36 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV257780.

(08/06/1950) Small group of huts within enclosure.

Ralegh Radford, C. A., 1952 /1953, Prehistoric Settlements on Dartmoor and the Cornish Moors, 63, 69, 81 (Article in Serial). SDV337080.

Good example of a simple pound yet eroded and damaged by leat to blowing house SX57SE/125. Contains ten huts with internal diameters 3.0m to 5.8m. One hut has internal diameter 7.6m with an outer facing to the wall.

Royal Air Force, 1964, 58/6399, 41-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDV225273.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX57SE36 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV272831.

(06/08/1977) The group comprises eleven huts within an enclosure of 1 ha, situated on a north slope at 340m OD. There may have been further huts on the lower north side but this area has been encroached upon by tin streaming.
All the huts are heather and turf covered. Nine appear to be of type 3 with internal diameters from 3.0m to 5.0m and walls 1.5m thick and up to 0.6m high. Where visible entrances are in the west and south-west. Two circular huts or pens have internal diameters of 2.0m. These may be of type 1 but since every hut was dug into to some degree during the 1896 excavations, there may have been subsequent tumble of walling.
The enclosure wall is of piled blocks and orthostatic slabs, somewhat fallen but 3.0m to 4.0m thick and up to 1.0m high. There is a 4.0m wide entrance on the west side with walling inturned to a length of 5.0m though only about 0.4m high.
There are slight traces of lynchetting 0.2m high within the enclosure and in two instances broken rickles of stones suggest that some huts were linked by low walls. There are however no complete plots and only the small field or annex 0.5 hectares in extent, on the south-east outer side of the enclosure, gives some indication of plot size. Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.

Hemery, E., 1983, High Dartmoor, 135 (Monograph). SDV249702.

Pearce, S. M., 1983, The Bronze Age Metalwork of South Western Britain, 458 (Monograph). SDV341822.

Corroded piece of bronze, length 38mm, width 19mm.

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

An enclosure is visible containing five hut circles, four of which are attached to each other in pairs.

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

(1992) Sub-circular enclosed hut circle settlement. Interior measures 98m east-west by 70m north-south, with a 4m wide entrance on its west side. Enclosure wall is of orthostat and rubble construction, measures 4m wide and stands up to 1m high.
Within the enclosure 11 hut circles and traces of lynchets and plots defined by low rubble walls have been identified. Attached to outer face of enclosure on south-east is a small field plot measuring 22m north-west by south-east by 41m north-east by south-west. All the stone hut circles were excavated by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee during 1896. This work recovered charcoal, pot boilers, rubbers, flint scrapers and pottery. Nine are circular in plan and measure between 2m and 8.4m in diameter. The remaining huts are oval and measure 3.4m and 3.2m long by 3m and 2.8m wide. The walls of all the huts are composed of stone and earth and measure between 0.4m and 0.9m high. Doorways have been identified in three huts, one is attached to the enclosure wall and another is joined to an internal boundary wall. Five huts are composed of single orthostatic walling, four are of rubble bank type, one is coursed and one has a double orthostat wall. Although there is published information relating to the excavation of each stone hut circle, correlation of this data with the visible earthworks is not possible, since the precise location of each separate hut was not published. See subsheets for details.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 54-55, Map 46, Figure 46.2 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Raddick Hill North settlement. All huts were excavated by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in 1896, although few finds of interest noted.

Environment Agency WMS, 1998-2016, LiDAR DTM data JPEG image (1m resolution) (Cartographic). SDV360208.

Settlement is clearly visible on the lidar data.

Fletcher, M. J., 2007-2008, Walkhampton Premier Archaeological Landscape; Field Investigation Project (Report - Survey). SDV359195.

(30/05/2007) A Bronze Age enclosed hut circle settlement. The remains lie on a northerly hillslope and now comprise a D-shaped enclosure wall of boulders and stones containing about twelve hut circles. A small D-shaped enclosure is attached to the uphill south-east side. The northern part of the settlement has been effaced by a tinner's cliff, part of the Hart Tor Brook streamworks. This well preserved settlement now lies under low bilberry bushes.
A number of iron ?vents up to 0.4m high each set in a circular concrete base 0.4m in diameter that lie within the settlement and its vicinity indicate some recent disturbance to the site.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, WLK-97 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

Visited 02/12/2019. Enclosure generally covered with tussocky grass with moss/whortleberry on rocks. Enclosure walls covered with grass/moss/whortleberry. Overall condition very good. Photo taken.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs, WLK-97 (Photograph). SDV363073.

Photo looking 090° showing S part of enclosure wall with grass/moss/whortleberry cover.

Richards, A. F., 2019, Settlement on Raddick Hill (Personal Comment). SDV363353.

The Dartmoor Exploration Committee did not specify which hut was which in the excavation description and similarly the Ordnance Survey (1950) card details do not give grid references.

Ordnance Survey, 2021, MasterMap 2021 (Cartographic). SDV364015.

Enclosure shown on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV7255 - COOKING STONE (Early Bronze Age to Late Iron Age - 2200 BC to 42 AD)
• FDV7256 - HAMMERSTONE (Early Bronze Age to Late Iron Age - 2200 BC to 42 AD)
• FDV6018 - MULLER (Early Bronze Age to Late Iron Age - 2200 BC to 42 AD?)
• FDV7254 - VESSEL (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 701 BC)

Associated Events

• EDV7517 - Survey of Hart Tor tin works
• EDV8351 - Walkhampton Premier Archaeological Landscape; Field Investigation Project
• EDV8428 - Excavation at settlement on Raddick Hill

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