More information : Two hut circles at SS 72794312 and SS 72834312 consist of low stony banks 0.3m high. Each has an entrance gap in the south.Surveyed at 1/2500. (1)
SS 72794312 and SS 72824314. Not hut circles but two ring cairns situated on level ground above a steep valley slope. They comprise circular banks of stone and soil 9.8 metres and 8.0
metres in overall diameters, 0.3 to 0.4 metres high and both have a slight gap on the south side. The interiors are natural ground level. See SS 74 SW 28 for a similar cairn.
Surveyed at 1:2500 on PFD.(2)
SS 72804313. Two hut circles.
These two hut circles (A and B) are situated at about 415m above OD, on a gentle NW-facing slope in an area of rough grassland overlooking the source of the West Lyn River in Ruckham Combe. There is an area (about 0.1ha) of scattered stones some 100m to the SSW but no other evidence of settlement. The huts are almost identical except the B is slightly larger and more irregular.
SS 7279043125. Hut A is subcircular and ranges from 7.6m E/W to 8.2m in overall diameter (7.9m average). The turf-covered stone wall is 1.2m to 1.7m wide (1.4m average) and reaches a maximum height of 0.5m in the NE. The interior slopes slightly but this could be due to soil creep on a levelled site. A lowering of the wall (1m long in the NW and 1.3m in the S) may indicate sites of possible entrances.
SS 7282643148. Hut B is also subcircular and varies in diameter from 9.1m NW/SE to 10.6m (average 9.8m) over a turf-covered stone wall varying from 1.3m wide in the S to 1.9m wide in the NE (average 1.6m) where it reaches an external maximum height of 0.5m. Internally it is only about 0.2m high at best. There appears to be an excess of stone around the SW and SE uphill side. In the S there is a lowering of the wall about 1.7m long which, although it is on the uphill side, may mark the entrance. The interior slopes gently which may be the result of soil build up.
Hut circles are farily rare on Exmoor however, several (SS 74 SW 26, 28 and 140) are evident on the lower slopes only 500m to the south of this iste. Originally classified as Hut Circles (1) and then as Ring Cairns (2), the possibility that there may be ring cairns cannot be excluded; however, on balance, they are most probably hut circles.
1:2500 Survey by GPS. (3)
These two sites are confirmed as hut circles. Hut circle A was surveyed at 1:100 scale, 3 August 1999. (4-5)
Both hut circles are visible on Infra-red photography taken for Exmoor National Park Authority in 1983. They are similar in size and form to the hut circles seen on Holdstone Down and Martinhoe Common to the north (6).
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