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Summary

Hut circle of 7.6 metres diameter with walls 1.7 metres wide and one large slab up to 1.7 metres high adjacent to the pond 260 metres north-west of Metherall farmstead and east of Fernworthy Reservoir

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019214: Four stone hut circles and associated boundary walls south east of Fernworthy Reservoir, 250m north west of Metherall

Other References/Statuses

• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443843
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/57/2
• Old SAM Ref: 28752
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX68SE47

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 a group of 'Hut Circles' shown on 19th century map.

Worth, R. H., 1935, 12th Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 119-127, Figs. 9-24, Pl. 12-14 (Article in Serial). SDV259660.

Two hut circles in a group of hut circles on the edge of Fernworthy reservoir excavated by Worth. He called these two numbers 1 and 2 (sited at SX 67048417 and SX 67068413 respectively). Excavated August 1934.
Hut No 2 was 25 feet in internal diameter, badly disturbed by quarry-men. Lining slabs are unusually large, much disturbed by quarrymen. The entrance could not be ascertained. The floor is on calm. Finds: well worked flint spearhead, flint chips, a whet stone, early Bronze Age pottery, and charcoal. No hearth discovered.

Worth, R. H., 1945, The Dartmoor Hut Circles, 230-34,251-56, Pl. 11, 12 (Article in Serial). SDV246120.

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1995, 2361-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDV224714.

Hut circle visible on aerial photographs.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1952, SX68SE47, SX68SE47 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV259659.

Hut circle in good condition. Stone slab (length 3.66 metres, height 2.08 metres).

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

Visible and recorded from aerial photographs.

Griffith, F. M., 1985, DAP/EM, 7 (Aerial Photograph). SDV274678.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 152183 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(14/6/1999) Hut circle 325 metres north-west of Metherall. Diameter 7.6 metres, single orthostat wall width 1.7 metres. Internal area 45.34 square metres. Composed of huge orthostats. A very substantial hut which illustrates clearly the size of stones that could be used for construction. Information board and path adjacent to the site. Grass, gorse, ferns, bracken and a rowan tree in the north wall.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 155-6, Map 35, Figure 35.1 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Hut circle '2' of 7.7 metres diameter with some of the wall stones of 3.7 metres in length and standing about 2.0 metres high. The excavations in 1934-36 recovered a flint spear head, a hammer or whetstone together with some Bronze Age pottery sherds and a scatter of charcoal.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

Hut circle is depicted on the modern digital mapping.

English Heritage, 2011, National Heritage List for England, 1019214 (National Heritage List for England). SDV347072.

The four stone hut circles and associated boundary walls south east of Fernworthy Reservoir, 250 meters north-west of Metherall are amongst the most visually impressive on Dartmoor. With walls standing up to 1.8 meters high the true scale and impressive character of Bronze Age domestic architecture can be easily appreciated.
The monument, which falls into four areas of protection, includes four substantial stone hut circles and associated boundary walls situated on a gentle north-west facing slope overlooking Fernworthy Reservoir. The stone hut circles survive as circular walls each surrounding an internal area which varies from 45 square meters to 57 square meters. The heights of the surrounding walls vary between 1.1 meters and 1.8 meters. Two of the huts have visible doorways and one has a porch.
The two northernmost huts were excavated between 1934 and 1936 by Worth. In this hut a flint spear head, a hammer stone and a few sherds of Bronze Age pottery were found. A 1.5 meters wide, gravel covered path known as Potter's Way cuts through part of the monument. The surface of this path is excluded from the scheduling, but the ground below is included Other details: SAM ID: 28752.

Newman, P., 2013, The Archaeology of Fernworthy Forest, Dartmoor, Devon. Supplement. The Lakeside Area and Lowton Farmsteads, 9, Figs. 5, 7, 18 (Report - Survey). SDV356884.

Hut excavated by Worth in advance of the reservoir although it remains well above the water line. Worth commented in his report that it had been disturbed by quarrymen and therefore he probably felt justified in excavating it even though it would not be submerged. In addition the hut was under threat from a granite quarry, a source of stones for the dam, only metres to the east.
The hut is located at the foot of an artificial ramp created by the imposition of a trackway to serve the quarry. Fortunately the hut appears to have been mostly avoided by the dumping of waste material from the quarry, although the north-east sector of the wall is partially buried. Only a few of the original wall slabs remain in situ and these are quite massive, including a triangular slab over 1.7 metres high. The internal diameter of the hut circle is about 7.3 metres.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV5901 - FLAKE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC?)
• FDV5899 - SHERD (Early Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 1501 BC)
• FDV5898 - SPEARHEAD (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC?)
• FDV5900 - WHETSTONE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC?)

Associated Events

• EDV6533 - Archaeological Survey of South-West Lakeside Trust Land around Fernworthy Reservoir
• EDV8515 - Excavation of huts, Chagford

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