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Summary

An enclosure of probable prehistoric date on the south-east slope of Water Hill in an area known as King's Oven. The evidence consists of a low earthen bank with a spread of between 2 and 3m and up to 0.5m high, enclosing a roughly sub-rectangular area of approximately 3.3ha. The south-east corner of the enclosure has been effaced by Medieval tinworking. There are no certain hut circles within the enclosure though two parallel walls in the north-west corner could represent a later shelter with internal dimensions of very approximately 7m by 3.5m. It is unlikely to be a hut circle.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SE386
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1361930

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSURE (Constructed, LANEBA to Early Iron Age - 2300 BC (Between) to 700 BC (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

'King's Oven' shown on 19th century map as a small circular feature.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'King's Oven (Ruin)' shown on early 20th century map.

Gover, J. E. B. + Mawer, A. + Stenton, F. M., 1932, The Place-Names of Devon: Part Two, 425 (Monograph). SDV337894.

'King's Oven' mentioned as 'Furnum Regis' in 1240.

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

Feature shown on aerial photograph.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 34, Figure 26.1, Map 26 (Monograph). SDV219155.

King's Oven or Furnum Regis is one of the earliest recorded placenames on Dartmoor. It is listed as one of the boundaries of the Forest in the Perambulation of 1240. It has come to be associated with the Prehistoric pound on the eastern slopes of Water Hill. The sub-circular pound has several internal features including two structures, a millstone and a possible cairn in the north wall. Outside the pound are several circular plots levelled into the hillside which may be the remains of associated huts.

Passmore, A. J., 1997, Boveycombehedd, Chagford, Devon: an archaeological investigation of a Diachronic landscape, 15 (Post-Graduate Thesis). SDV360382.

The cairn at King's Oven probably dates to 2000 - 1800 BC.

Environment Agency WMS, 1998-2016, LiDAR DSM data JPEG image (1m resolution) (Cartographic). SDV360209.

Feature visible on Lidar data.

Newman, P., 2002, Headland Warren and the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mines (Report - Survey). SDV363213.

(15/02/2002) An enclosure of probable prehistoric date on the south-east slope of Water Hill in an area known as King's Oven. The evidence consists of a low earthen bank with a spread of between 2 and 3m and up to 0.5m high, enclosing a roughly sub-rectangular area of approximately 3.3ha. The south-east corner of the enclosure has been effaced by medieval tinworking. There are no certain hut circles within the enclosure though two parallel walls in the north-west corner could represent a later shelter with internal dimensions of very approximately 7m by 3.5m. It is unlikely to be a hut circle.

GeoInformation Group Ltd, 2010, 1:625 2010 Colour (12.5cm resolution) (Aerial Photograph). SDV346026.

Sub-circular feature visible on aerial photograph.

Ordnance Survey, 2018, MasterMap 2018 (Cartographic). SDV360652.

'King's Oven' shown on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV7139 - Headland Warren and the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mines Survey (Ref: A1/20/2001, A1/34/2002)

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