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Summary

Hut circle of 6.0 metres diameter with walls 1.3 metres wide by 0.9 metres high and an entrance to the south 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: 144116
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/26/3
• Old SAM County Ref: 957F
• 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 on 19th century map.

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

Site visit 4th May 1975. Terraced with tumbled wall stones.

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

Fernworthy Plantation. West Lowton. 7B.
Site visit 1976. Hut circle located 16 metres north-east of site 8B. Cut into east facing slope. 5.7 metres diameter. Wall 1.4 metres thick. Part of the wall on the east side has fallen away. Entrance on southern side. Largest stone 1.10 by 0.45 metres, 1.10 metres above ground. Part of an enclosure wall visible on southern side of hut, running east west. Not investigated. Has been planted over.
January 1976. 10 posts ringing clearance zone, enclosing sites 6B, 7B, 8B and part of enclosure wall. All agreements carried out.
Included in 1955 Spooner and Dixon report (A) Region south of the Teign (Assacombe and Lowton), Site No. 6.

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., 144116 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Site visit 30th May 1997. Hut circle forming part of dispersed settlement. Diameter 6.0 metres. Single orthostat wall, 1.3 metres wide, o.9 metres high. Internal area of 28.26 square metres. Two boundary banks lead off from this hut.

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 adjacent 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 current 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 SX66308316 of 6.5 metres diameter with walls 1.1 metres wide by 1.0 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 and 8B.
Site visit 27th September 1996. Only one post marked all three sites. At least one post per site is necessary. Gorse is spreading from the fringes of the clearance site.

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 depicted.

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.

Hut circle located at the junction of two lynchets. Visible as a circular, terraced earthwork with only a few displaced stones surviving on the eastern side. Fallen stones lining an opening on the south-east side represent the remains of an entrance.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, Unknown, SX68SE46 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV277932.

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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