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Summary

Oval enclosure of 82 metres by 44 metres within a larger field system on Smeardon Down with a hut circle in the eastern section

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthworks of a prehistoric settlement on Smeardon Down comprising hut circles, enclosure and field system

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57NW72
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439925
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57NW/89/2

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSURE (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1964, RAF 58/6399, 044-045 (Aerial Photograph). SDV225229.

Photograph taken on 2nd July 1964. Cropmark of a sub-circular enclosure with a northern entrance at SX 52147813.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card, 1980, SX57NW72, SX57NW72 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV232064.

Visited on 14th October 1980. At SX52157811 there is an enclosed hut circle situated on on a slight western slope near the summit of Smeardon Down. The enclosure is oval with internal diameters of 8.2 metres by 9.4 metres and is formed by a wall of small stones 1.2 metres wide. The wall is 0.2 metres high internally, and 0.4 metres high externally on the west side, less on the east. There is no obvious break for an entrance. In the northern part there is a hut circle, in very poor condition and of indeterminate Type. Its internal diameter is 4.3 metres. The northern half utilizes the enclosure wall and from this a turf covered branch wall forms the southern half of hut with a wide break in the south-west quadrant. The site is within an extensive field system (SX 57 NW 88) and two field walls adjoin the east and west sides. Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD.

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

Two hut circles visible, both within what could be sub-rectangular enclosures, but which are probably small fields of the parallel reave system (no photograph reference given - FM Griffiths).

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(12/07/1991) SX 52167810 set on a gentle south-west slope beneath an outcrop is a roughly oval-shaped enclosure. It measures about 11.5m north-south by 10m within a turf-covered rubble wall 0.5m high, 1.2m- 2m wide. Set inside the curve of the north wall is a hut circle (5) with a possible entrance to its west side. The hut wall in the south is no longer evident. At the southern end of the enclosure built up the slope to the east, is a similarly constructed rectangular rubble-walled feature about 9m east-west by 3m internally. At its western end there is a rubble scarp connecting it to the enclosure whilst its eastern end is formed by a field wall. Its purpose and relationship to the enclosure is not entirely clear but it appears to be contemporary.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 89, Map 31, Site 11 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Prehistoric homestead on Smeadon Down with a large oval hut circle.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 2015-2017, 2015-2017 Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV361462.

Visible on aerial photograph.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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