See important guidance on the use of this record.

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

Summary

Enclosure with two possible hut circles probably of Bronze Age date on the west facing slopes of Shaugh Moor. The hut circles and bank are identifiable as earthworks on aerial photographs of 1959 and visualisations derived from low resolution lidar data captured in 2013.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Bronze age landscapes on Shaugh Moor and Wooter Moor comprising earthworks and walling of enclosures, hut circles, cairns, stone circles and rows, reaves and field systems, and medieval and post medieval field systems

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE139
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439504
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/73

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Harold Wingham Collection, 1959, HAW Film 9395, HAW 9395/27 22-JUL-1959 (AI) (Aerial Photograph). SDV363221.

Two bank defined hollows and a linear bank are visible.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX56SE139, Plan (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV149731.

(Visited 01/10/1980) Centred at SX 5522 6290 on the west slope of Shaugh Moor at 251 metres O.D. are the remains of two hut circles linked by a rubble wall. Both huts are little more than platforms 'A', 7.4 metres in diameter, is levelled 0.6 metres into the slope while 'B' is represented by an oval platform 9.8 metres by 12.0 metres levelled 0.4 metres deep into the slope. Their poor condition may be due to robbing for the nearby enclosure (SX 56 SE 52).
Several small stretches of field bank are visible in the area and an almost continuous lynchet, 1.5 metres wide and 0.3 metres high, links the two hut platforms.
The huts fall within the Shaugh Moor parallel reave system (SX 56 SE 78), and may or may not be associated with it. Surveyed at 1:2500 on M.S.D.

Collis, J., 1983, Field Systems and Boundaries on Shaugh Moor and at Wotter, Dartmoor, 57-59, fig 7, 8 (Article in Serial). SDV144058.

Two house platforms (W and X) which apparently were not constructed in stone. Soil was thrown down slope. Linked by two arcs of banks up to 0.3 metres wide and 0.1 - 0.2 metres high forming an enclosure of c.0.06 hectares. Most unusual complex. Part of earliest phase of activity on Shaugh Moor.

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

Not recorded in project.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 102-103, Map 48, Figure 48.4 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Enclosure 'B' shown as a U-shaped feature with a hut circle at each end.

Fletcher, M. + Probert, S., 1998, Shaugh Moor, Devon: An Archaeological Survey (Report - Survey). SDV343481.

(Visited 01/12/1997) SX 5520 6291. A hut stance scooped into a west-facing slope at 253 metres above OD. It is 5.0 metres in diameter with an 0.5 metre high back scarp and 0.4 metre high front scarp. Some stones protrude through the turf but no large boulders are visible.
It is linked by a curvilinear stone/boulder wall to a sub-circular stance at SX 5529 6290 which is recorded as a hut platform by Collis and Butler, this is now covered by thick gorse and is difficult to identify. These features lie within the extensive parallel reave system (SX 56 SE 78).

English Heritage, 2005-2008, Prehistoric Survey Information (Cartographic). SDV345521.

Enclosure shown on survey.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5562 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

Two bank defined hollows and a linear bank are visible.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, SM13 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

Visited 04/08/2019. The site description is good. Large gorse bushes which previously covered the hut platform have been burnt back leaving burnt remains and new fresh growth at bases of gorse. The non-circular boundary pound wall is visible with gorse growing on it at the east end.Light animal grazing.
Site stable. Photo taken

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs, SM13 (Photograph). SDV363073.

Visited 04/08/2019. Photo taken looking east north east showing an overall view of the hut platform. Also shows the burnt and regenerating gorse.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2020, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

Two bank defined hollows or platforms are identifiable on aerial photographs of 1959 and visualisations derived from low resolution lidar data captured in 2013 as earthworks approximately 9m and 12m across respectively. The oval hollows are linked by an L-shaped bank circa 2.5m wide and up to 68m long.
The hollows are interpreted as the remains of hut circles probably of Bronze Age, incorporated into the perimeter boundary bank of a possibly incomplete or robbed contemporary enclosure.

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)

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