See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Peat cutters building on the southern flank of Whitehorse Hill. This ruinous, rectangular structure lies in an area which has been cut for peat and was probably used by the peat cutters for shelter and storage. It measures 2.6 metres east-west and 1.9 metres north-south, with walls of coursed moorstone blocks up to 0.9 metres high. There is an entrance in the south-western corner and traces of an internal subdivision. The structure appears to have been partially rebuilt.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Structural remains of a peat-cutters shelter on Whitehorse Hill

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SW34
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443965
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SW/110
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BUILDING (Built, Early Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD (Between) to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

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

Le Messurier, B., 1978-1979, Post-Prehistoric Structures in Central North Dartmoor: A Field Survey (Un-published). SDV269282.

SX 61708470. On the watershed, at the kink in the ridge, is a rectangular hut, its walls badly repaired. Internally it is 1.8 metres by 2.6 metres with a fireplace on the east side. Peat cutting nearby.

Le Messurier, B., 1979, Post-Prehistoric Structures of Central North Dartmoor. A Field Survey, 66 (Article in Serial). SDV269283.

Report as 1978-9; now published.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX68SW34 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV267426.

(12/09/1979) At SX 61688473 is a hut as described by Le Messurier, with walling 0.6 metres thick and a maximum height of 0.9 metres. Although the inner face forms a rectangle the outer side is augmented by further rubble 1.4 metres thick and 0.5 metres high very much as though the building has been adapted from a hut circle. No entrance is visible.
The hut is in an area of peat digging and almost certainly associated with this, at least in its later stage.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD. See ground photograph.

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

Clearly visible on the 1947 Royal Air Force aerial photograph.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 154, Map 34 (Monograph). SDV219155.

One of a group of at least seven buildings on Whitehorse Hill as far south as Quintin's Man in an area favoured by the peat cutters. These are squarish in plan and smaller than the typical tinners hut, up to 3 metres across and are sited near the hilltop rather than beside streamworks.

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

(01/08/1995) The remains of a building lie on the southern flank of Whitehorse Hill at SX 6168 8473. This ruinous, rectangular structure lies in an area which has been cut for peat and was probably used by the peat cutters for shelter and storage. It measures 2.6 metres east-west and 1.9 metres north-south, with walls of coursed moorstone blocks up to 0.9 metres high. There is an entrance in the south-western corner and traces of an internal subdivision. The structure appears to have been partially rebuilt, but there is no clear evidence that it has been adapted from a hut circle as suggested in 1979 (citing Riley, H., Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments in England Field Investigation,

Probert, S. A. J. + Newman, P., 2003-2004, Measured survey North Dartmoor Military Range Okehampton Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey, M. J. Fletcher (Report - Survey). SDV350801.

(20/10/2003) This ruined structure is as previously described. There has been some rebuilding to the tops of the walls - probably by walkers.

English Heritage, 2005, Survey Information (miscellaneous date) (Report - Survey). SDV345855.

Building shown on survey.

Ordnance Survey, 2023, Mastermap 2023 (Cartographic). SDV365227.

Building shown on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8679 - Okehampton Range: Management Survey
• EDV8291 - Okehampton Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV8695 - Survey of Okehampton North Dartmoor Military Range

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.