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HER Number:MDV103622
Name:Enclosure west of Bottor Rock Farm

Summary

A sub-oval banked enclosure is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs taken in 1979 and as an earthwork on digital images derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2017. The enclosure has previously been interpreted as evidence of a possible prehistoric settlement, although given its coincidence with woodland on the Parish Tithe Map is perhaps more likely to be of more recent origin, such as a post-medieval or 19th century tree enclosure bank.

Location

Grid Reference:SX 823 803
Map Sheet:SX88SW
Admin AreaDartmoor National Park
Civil ParishHennock
DistrictTeignbridge
Ecclesiastical ParishHENNOCK

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

  • National Monuments Record: SX88SW18
  • National Record of the Historic Environment: 447367

Monument Type(s) and Dates

  • ENCLOSED HUT CIRCLE SETTLEMENT? (Early Bronze Age to Late Iron Age - 2200 BC to 42 AD? (Between))
  • TREE ENCLOSURE RING? (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

South West Heritage Trust, 1838-1848, Digitised Tithe Maps and Transcribed Apportionments (Cartographic). SDV359954.

The earthwork banked enclosure corresponds with oval land parcel 958 recorded as ‘Allotment in Broad Park’ with land use recorded as ‘Wood etc’.

Croker, J. G., 1852, A Guide to the Eastern Escarpment of Dartmoor, with a descriptive map, 27 (Monograph). SDV350854.

(SX 824802) In a field called Brady Park, about 300 yards south-west of Bottor Rock were two concentric stone circles. W. C. Radly, in 1841, gave the following measurements. Diameter of the inner circle 24 feet. Distance between the walls 18 feet. The outer wall was 4 feet thick and the inner stronger, wall 5
feet but much had been thrown away and about 3 feet remained. The area in the centre had been hollowed out. The circles were destroyed in 1842.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1978, SX88SW18 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV350855.

(18/04/1978) The cropmark of an enclosure is visible at SX 82358030 on aerial photograph. It is almost circular, 39 metres in overall diameter, the enclosing bank obviously spread and about 6 metres across. The modern field bank immediately to the north bows to accommodate the northern side of the enclosure.
Within the southwest quadrant, a dark circular "ditch" mark almost 10 metres in diameter, looks rather like a stripped out hut circle.
On the ground the field is currently ploughed and the enclosure is clearly visible from a distance of 50-60 metres as a bank about 0.2 metres high, but is so spread as to be unclear and unsurveyable when standing on the site. It is situated on a narrow shelf of a south facing slope and in this field and the pasture one to the north there are traces of what may be a ploughed out field system. If this is the feature seen by Radley (and this is by no means certain), it is more likely to have been a Bronze Age / Iron Age settlement.

Ordnance Survey, 1979, 79/083, 157-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDV350856.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX8380 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

A sub-oval banked enclosure is visible.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2018-2019, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 1, Haldon Ridge to Dart Valley (AI&M) (Interpretation). SDV361305.

A bank, circa 10m wide, which forms a sub-oval enclosure, circa 40m long by 30m wide, is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs taken in 1979 and as an earthwork on digital images derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2017. The sub-oval enclosure corresponds with land parcel 958 on the mid-19th century Parish Tithe Map and is recorded as ‘Allotment in Broad Park’ with a land use recorded as ‘Wood etc’ on the accompanying Tithe Apportionment. The earthwork has been interpreted elsewhere within this record as a possible prehistoric hut circle or settlement enclosure, although given its coincidence with woodland on the Tithe Map may equally represent a post-medieval or 19th century tree enclosure bank.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV350854Monograph: Croker, J. G.. 1852. A Guide to the Eastern Escarpment of Dartmoor, with a descriptive map. A Guide to the Eastern Escarpment of Dartmoor. Unknown. 27.
SDV350855Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card: Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division. 1978. SX88SW18. Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card. Unknown.
SDV350856Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1979. 79/083. Ordnance Survey Aerial Photograph. Unknown. 157-8.
SDV359954Cartographic: South West Heritage Trust. 1838-1848. Digitised Tithe Maps and Transcribed Apportionments. Tithe Map and Apportionment. Digital.
SDV361305Interpretation: Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R.. 2018-2019. The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 1, Haldon Ridge to Dart Valley (AI&M). Historic England Research Report. Digital.
Linked documents:1
SDV361470Cartographic: Environment Agency. 1998-2017. LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor. Environment Agency LiDAR data. Digital. LIDAR SX8380 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017. [Mapped feature: #116672 ]

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

  • EDV7515 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey: Haldon Ridge to Dart Valley (Ref: ACD1748)

Date Last Edited:May 28 2021 2:47PM