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Summary

Hut circle of 6.5 metres diameter with walls 1.2 metres wide by 0.3 metres high within dispersed settlement to the west of Lowton Brook in Fernworthy Forest

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1017983: Dispersed stone hut circle settlement and associated fields 490m south east of Silk House

Other References/Statuses

• MPP Archaeological Item Dataset: 144117
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/26/2
• Old SAM County Ref: 957H
• Old SAM Ref: 28671
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX68SE46

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

One of the 'Hut Circles' shown on19th century map.

Morley, 1975, Ancient Monuments Division Site Visit (Unknown). SDV351964.

Site visit 4th May 1975. Terraced hut with cyclopean orthostats.

Turner, J. R., 1976, Ancient Monuments on Forestry Commission Land. Fernworthy and Bellever (Report - non-specific). SDV351823.

Fernworthy Plantation, West Lowton 8B.
Site visit 1976. 7.3 metres diameter hut circle on a platform site, cut into an east facing slope. Wall 1.4 metres thick. Part of the wall has fallen away on the east side. The largest stone is 1.5 by 1.4 metres, 1.25 metres above the ground. Part of an enclosure wall is visible on the south side of the hut, running east to west. Not investigated. Has been planted over.
February 1976. Ten posts ring the clearance zone, enclosing 6B, 7B, 8B and part of the enclosure wall. All agreements carried out.
Included in 1955 Spooner and Dixon report (A) Region south of the Teign (Assacombe and Lowton), Site No. 7.

Dartmoor National Park Authority + Forestry Commission + Dartmoor Preservation Association, 1976, Conservation of Ancient Monuments. The Report of a Working Party, 2 (Report - non-specific). SDV248248.

Fernworthy Plantation. West Lowton. 8B.

Turner, J., 1978, Report of Work Carried Out by the Forestry Commission since January 1976 (Report - non-specific). SDV351816.

No work has been carried out on this group of sites since 1976.

Robinson, R., 1983, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1983 (Un-published). SDV345762.

Department of Environment Field Monument Warden site visit 16th December 1983.

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

Hut circle not visible on RAF aerial photograph due to tree cover.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., 144117 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Site visit 30th May 1997. Hut circle forming part of a dispersed settlement. 6.5 metres diameter, single orthostat wall, 1.2 metres wide, 0.3 metres high. Internal area of 33.16 square metres.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 157, Map 35, Site 4 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Hut circle at 'Lowton Brook West' settlement.

Smith, N., 1992, Condition Survey of Identified Archaeology with Woodland Areas 1992 (Un-published). SDV351819.

Fernworthy. West Lowton Group. 6B, 7B, 8B.
Site visit 27th May 1992. Three hut circles next to one another in a clearing on an east facing slope, just down from the track. Stability good. Site marked. Vegetation grazed and mechanically controlled. Recommendations: Maintain present management regime.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1993-1998, Dartmoor Royal Forest Project (Report - Survey). SDV346608.

Visited on 3rd June 1995. Hut circle at SX66308315 of 7.7 metres diameter with walls 1.2 metres wide by 0.9 metres high and an entrance to the south.

Dartmoor National Park Authority, 1996, Condition Survey of Identified Archaeology within Woodland Areas 1996 (Un-published). SDV351820.

Fernworthy. West Lowton Group. 6B, 7B, 8B.
Site visit 27th September 1996. Only one post currently marks all three sites. At least one post per hut circle is necessary, marked with the survey reference number. Gorse is spreading from the fringes of the clearance area.

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

Hut circle recorded.

GeoInformation Group Ltd, 2010, 1:625 2010 Colour aerial photography for Dartmoor (12.5cm resolution) (Aerial Photograph). SDV346026.

Site visible on aerial photograph.

Fugro-BKS, 2013, Fernworthy Forest LiDAR survey (Cartographic). SDV351778.

Hut circle visible.

Newman, P., 2013, Fernworthy Forest Sites Survey (Un-published). SDV351708.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

Hut circle marked.

English Heritage, 2013, National Heritage List for England, 1017983 (National Heritage List for England). SDV350785.

The monument, which falls into six areas, includes a dispersed stone hut circle settlement and associated fields situated on a north east facing slope overlooking the valley of the Lowton Brook. The settlement contains at least 12 stone hut circles together with a number of lengths of rubble walling forming part of a field system. The stone hut circles within the settlement all survive as banks each surrounding an internal circular area which varies from 14.51 to 55.39 square metres with the average being 30.56 square metres. The height of the surrounding walls vary between 0.6m and 1.3m, with the average being 0.91m. Four of the huts have visible doorways and the orthostatic, rubble bank and coursed walling building traditions are all represented.

Newman, P., 2013, The Archaeology of Fernworthy Forest, Dartmoor, Devon, 26, Fig. 20 (Report - Survey). SDV351784.

Three large orthostats remain in place on the north-west side while several other large slabs are now leaning inwards. On the eastern side, however, most of the large slabs have been removed and only tumbled stone remains. The level floor is terraced into the slope with a consequent high revetment on the west side and a high earth embankment on the east side. A breach in the south-east marks the site of the entrance.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, Unknown, SX68SE46 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV277876.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6203 - Archaeological Survey of Fernworthy Forest
• EDV6216 - Condition Surveys of Ancient Monuments on Forestry Commission Land
• EDV7389 - Fernworthy Forest condition survey 1996
• EDV7410 - Fernworthy Forest condition survey 1992
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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