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Summary

Amorphous prehistoric enclosure of circa 1.2 hectares on Smith Hill with a poorly defined hut circle outside.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Bronze Age enclosure with hut circles and field system at Smith Hill and Muddilake with late medieval or later enclosure banks or field system and streamworking along the brook to the west

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67NW108
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442806
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/123

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Ormerod, G. W., 1864, On the Hut Circles on the Eastern Side of Dartmoor, 307 (Article in Serial). SDV304174.

Ormerod notes the occurrence of hut circles to the west of the Cherrybrook at Smith's Hill.

Royal Air Force, 1946 - 1949, Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV342938.

Hut circle clearly visible on the aerial photography and fragmentary outline of enclosure also visible.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX67NW108 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV241907.

(12/12/1979) Centred at SX 63237584. A fragmentary and poorly defined area of prehistoric fields, of approximately 2.0ha, with two possible hut circles, are visible as crop marks on air photographs.
Two adjoining fields, one of about 1.0ha, and the other of about 0.5ha are visible on the air photograph situated on a southern slope at about 356m OD (see plan). The area is enveloped in peat with a covering of long coarse grass, and the fields and one possible hut circle are not discernible on the ground.
The surviving hut, at SX 63297580, is in poor condition but appears to be of Type 1 (SX 56 SE 19). It has a level interior 6.6m in diameter and rubble walling 1.1m wide and 0.2m high. No entrance is visible.
Hut surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and at 1:2500 for AO Records.

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

(10/08/1989) Centred at SX 63227528 on the gently rounded crest of Smith Hill is an amorphous prehistoric enclosure of c1.2 ha with a poorly defined hut circle outside at SX 63297581. The enclosure walling is visible as a turf covered stoney bank 1.0m to 1.5m wide with a maximum height of 0.4m. It cannot be traced on the N and W margins.
The hut circle exists as a clearing in the surrounding long tufty grass. The level interior, 6.5m N-S by 5.2m E-W is enclosed by a low bank 1.2 to 1.5m wide with a maximum height of 0.2m on the W margin where some stone protrudes through the turf. No entrance or facing slabs are apparent and the site has not been terraced into the hillside.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 46, Map 27 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Prehistoric settlement at Smith Hill once occupied the promontory between the Cherry Brook and its tributary Smith Hill Brook. All that remains is a single hut circle of circa 6.0 metres diameter on the eastern slope and the low banks of up to 0.3 metres high which once formed part of at least two enclosures over the summit.

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

Remains of an enclosure shown on survey.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8640 - Spaders and Muddilake and Smith Hill Newtakes, Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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