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Summary

Vermin trap built on top of the Willings Walls. The trap includes two lengths of V-shaped rubble wall, together forming an X-shaped trap. The rubble walls average 1m wide and 0.3m high, whilst the north-south arm is 11.3m long and the east-west arm is 11.7m long. The trapping area lies within a break in the reave and survives as three small faced stones defining one side. Recorded by Haynes (1970) but not Cook (1964). Seen and recorded in 1995, 2002 and 2015.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019082: Multi-period remains at Hentor Warren

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX 56 NE 133
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/236/31
• Old SAM Ref: 24230(P)
• Pastscape: 438876

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• VERMIN TRAP (Constructed, XVIII to XIX - 1751 AD to 1899 AD (Between))

Full description

Haynes, R. G., 1970, Vermin Traps and Rabbit Warrens on Dartmoor, 160, trap No. 3 (Article in Serial). SDV166302.

Hentor Warren (SX 5830 6570). Haynes' vermin trap No.3. Interrupts an ancient wall on Hentor Moor. The line of the trap is east to west.
NB: although Haynes' grid reference places this trap some 200m to the north-east, the description matches and his other grid references for traps at Hentor Warren are inaccurate to varying degrees (Richards, A. F., 06/03/2020).

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

Not visible on the 1946 Royal Air Force vertical aerial photographs.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 140406 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(01/05/1995) SX 5848 6562. Vermin trap built on top of the Willings Walls. The trap includes two lengths of V-shaped rubble wall, together forming an X-shaped trap. The rubble walls average 1m wide and 0.3m high, whilst the north-south arm is 11.3m long and the east-west arm is 11.7m long. The trapping area lies within a break in the reave and survives as three small faced stones defining one side.
The position of the trap suggests that it was intended to catch vermin following the Willings Walls Reave. The stone from which this trap was constructed was presumably robbed from the reave.

Thackray, C., 1994, The Upper Plym Valley: the management of an historic landscape, 222, 102 836 + 837 (Report - non-specific). SDV143510.

Probert, S. A. J. + Fletcher, M. J., 2002, Plym Valley survey (Report - Survey). SDV350782.

(13/05/2002) SX 591657. Hentor Warren. The land occupied by Hentor Farm was reused as a warren from at least the early years of the 19th century.
The late establishment of this warren is attested to by the presence of only four vermin traps including this trap at SX 5849 6563. These exist as a series of V or X-shaped stony banks up to 10m long and 0.4m high which were originally intended to channel predators into a stone-built trap at the apex. All three traps have been incorporated into earlier field walls or banks. No trap stones remain in-situ. These features were made obsolete in the late 18th century with the introduction of gin-traps and the wider use of shotguns.

Ridgers, H. + Ridgers, C., 2015, Of Varments and Vermin Traps, 7, No. 82 (Report - Assessment). SDV358632.

SX 58487 65624. Prominent X-shaped walls lie across an ancient wall.

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

Visible on the aerial photography.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8155 - Plym Valley Survey

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