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Summary

Partially enclosed stone hut circle settlement situated on a prominent hill known as Saddlesborough overlooking the Plym Valley. The settlement survives as 27 hut circles with approximately seven associated enclosures of various size and shape and other associated boundary walls.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1002517: Pounds and hut circles N of Saddlesborough

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE43
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439232
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/29
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/30
• Old SAM County Ref: 428
• Pastscape: 439232

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HUT CIRCLE SETTLEMENT (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between)) + Sci.Date

Full description

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

Eastern enclosure and three 'Hut Circles' shown on 19th century map.

Rowe, S., 1896, A Perambulation of the Royal Forest of Dartmoor and the venville precincts, 180 (Monograph). SDV249697.

Worth, R. H., 1943, The Prehistoric Pounds of Dartmoor, 291 (Article in Serial). SDV320337.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, 2299 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Worth, R. H., 1953, Dartmoor, 151 (Monograph). SDV231148.

Department of Environment, 1959, Pounds and hut circles north of Saddlesborough (Schedule Document). SDV138641.

A fine and complex Moorland settlement, consisting of a group of enclosures with associated hut circles. There are two large pounds, a number of small rectangular cultivation enclosures with 21 huts, mostly outside the enclosures. Stone walls average 0.6 metres – 0.9 metres high. The huts have an internal diameter of 6.1 metres or less.

Cambridge University, 1967, CUC/AQX, CUC/AQX 49 (Aerial Photograph). SDV355237.

Robinson, R., 1982, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1982 (Un-published). SDV345608.

Department of Environment Field Monument Warden site visit 21st April 1982.

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

Features visible and recorded.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 99-102, Map 48, Figure 48.3 (Monograph). SDV137656.

'Saddlesborough enclosures' hemmed in on the north side by the encroaching pits and waste dumps of the clayworks. The site is probably only a remnant of more extensive settlements between the Tor and Plym rivers. Recent expansion of the workings has caused the loss of one isolated enclosed hut group but not before the site was fully investigated in 1977 and 1978 as part of the Shaugh Moor Project. The condition of the remaining structures of 27 huts associated with 7 enclosures, many of them apparently dug into, generally improves away from the road.

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

Features visible on aerial photographs.

Ordnance Survey, 2021, MasterMap 2021 (Cartographic). SDV364015.

'Settlements' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1002517 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

Up to 14 of the huts are attached to boundary walls and many of these are used to form parts of the outer boundaries of the various enclosures. The remaining hut circles are freestanding structures scattered between the enclosures. The hut circles vary in size from 3.4 metres up to 8.2 metres in diameter internally. The largest has a double wall. Partial excavations in 1960 – 63 produced a radiocarbon date for one hut of 1250 BC as well as charcoal, flint flakes, a scraper and interior post holes. Some of the enclosures appear to have no entrances and excavations nearby The monument includes a partially enclosed stone hut circle settlement situated on a prominent hill known as Saddlesborough overlooking the Plym Valley. The settlement survives as 27 hut circles with approximately seven associated enclosures of various size and shape and other associated boundary walls. have shown that they may have been deliberately built in this way, possibly to keep livestock out. In one enclosure a granite trough has been worked into a square block in the southern wall.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4967 - Shaugh Moor Survey (1997-1998)
• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

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