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Summary

The remains of a reave running for approximately 1950 metres. It is complete for most of its length.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019083: Medieval farmstead and field system, length of Willings Walls Reave, four round cairns, a ring cairn and pillow mounds at Willings Walls Warren
• Scheduled Monument 1019082: Multi-period remains at Hentor Warren

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE123
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 438849
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/275
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/275/1
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/228
• Old SAM County Ref: 494
• Old SAM Ref Revised: 24230(P)
• Old SAM Ref: 10644
• Old SAM Ref: 10644
• Old SAM Ref: 24230
• Old SAM Ref: 24231

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• REAVE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

AM, Untitled Source (Report - Survey). SDV151693.

Willings walls reave. Runs from sx53806417 to sx58596597, length 1950m. Vis=estimated -/-/1991 (ancient monuments). Willings walls is a contour reave which runs from the col east of great trowlesworthy tor through spanish lake and down to the river plym south-east of ditsworthy warren house. Its total length of just under 2km includes a gang-junction, where two sections of the reave join unconformably, beyond this the reave forms a dog-leg, at which its course changes by 40 degrees in order to maintain its contour; there is an enclosure at this dog-leg. The reave is on average 1.7m in width and up to 0.75m in height and is visible as a turf-covered bank of stone and earth, faced in some places with orthostats, broadly following the 330m contour. For a distance of about 300m north of hentor brook more recent stone walling lies on top of the reave, beyond this the reave can be traced running north towards the plym. Two short spurs of banking projecting from the reave 225m north of hentor brook may be related to the settlement south of ditsworthy clam. On the slight spur c 450m north of its re-emergence from spanish lake there is a gap of 8m, considered to be a contemporary hollow way, next to which a hut is sited on the reave.10m to the south of this there is an enclosure attached to the west side and c 350m further south a medieval longhouse has been built slighting the reave and incorporating stone from it (am).

Worth, R. H., 1942, 61st Report on Barrows, 207, 208, Fig 1. (Article in Serial). SDV148288.

(1941) The existence of this feature was noted in the region of Hentor Brook, and it appears to touch a stone circle (SX56NE/133), south-south-east of the brook.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, 4284-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Fleming, A. + Collis, J. + Jones, R. L., 1973, A Late Prehistoric Reave System near Cholwich Town, Dartmoor, 1-5, 13-16, figs 1, 2 (Article in Serial). SDV358808.

April 1972 The reave starts in a col to the east of Great Trowlesworthy Tor, and ends north of Hentor Brook on the slope down to the River Plym.
The authors give a detailed description of the course of the reave, and confirm that the reave is not of recent date. Raised bog has developed over it at the head of Spanish Lake, and a Medieval longhouse (SX56SE/196) slights the reave in this area too. North of here there is a gap which is thought to be original, and the reasons for this, and for the association of huts (SX56SE/12) with the construction of the reave, are outlined. There are two gaps which may be original, south of Hentor Brook, and the streams which now flow over the reave must have developed since its laying out. Near the end of the reave is an enclosure with hut circles, just to the west of the reave, (SX56SE/147), but it is not clear whether they were originally meant to be connected. Contemporaneity with Cholwich Town Reave North (SX56SE/224) is suggested (this reave is also SX56SE/228).
1. Willings Walls Reave (Fig 2A) Total length : 1950m Start of wall : SX 58306417, End of wall : SX 58596597.
Willings Walls Reave starts in the col to the east of Great Trowlesworthy Tor, in the marshy ground at the head-waters of a stream flowing south towards Lee Moor House. The first 150 metres from the origin to the point at which the reave approaches the raised bog at the head of the Spanish Lake are on a significantly different alignment from that of the reave further north; this alignment takes the wall through the middle of the col (as viewed from the northern side) to the head of the stream where it starts. At about 150 metres, the wall is absent on the dry land to the south of the bog at the head of the Spanish Lake.
It is possible that recent drainage activities may have led to the removal of some of the reave here. It then crosses a section where it has been submerged by deep bog; however, the preservation of one small piece of wall in a drier place in the middle of the bog, and the fact that it could be found by probing at the north end of the bog, suggests that it was built continuously here, at a time when local conditions were much drier. The depth of the bog at this point helps to rule out any recent date for the reave.
North of the bog the reave has been demolished to provide stone for a substantial Medieval long house (Haynes 1970: 159). However, it soon continues northward, and in this section it has been provided in some places with a double orthostatic face; in one place the orthostats were 1m high and about 1.60m apart. About 350m north of the later building a small rectangular enclosure of uncertain date adjoins the reave. The reave forms its east wall, and there is a broad entrance gap to the west. 10m north of this, a D-shaped stone-based hut adjoins the reave on its eastern side. Its entrance is not apparent. At this point there is a gap of some 6-8 metres in the reave; its original width is uncertain, because the first ten metres of the resumed reave to the north have been robbed, leaving only a basal course. To the west of the gap lies a circular hut with an external diameter of 10 metres, also without a visible entrance. It is so placed as to ensure that the hollow-way which runs through the gap must do so obliquely.
This gap is almost certainly an original one, and the huts related to the original setting out of the reave, for the following reasons:
1. The misalignment of the reave at this point, and the slight inturn of the terminal north of the gap as it approaches the hollow-way, suggest that a gap was part of the original design here.
2. The positioning of the huts suggests a concern for "strategic" considerations. In the first place, both huts command the oblique hollow-way through the gap. Secondly, they are both on a slight spur which runs SE-NW, the effect of which is to prevent the section of reave south of the gap being visible from the north of the gap, and vice versa. Thus these huts are situated on the only spot from which both sections of the reave can be viewed at the same time.
3. The gap itself is situated in a sheltered gully, suggesting that it was deliberately chosen for the movement of animals up and down the hill. While none of these considerations is conclusive, the relationship between the siting and character of the gap, the huts and the reave suggests contemporaneity.
The reave continues northward for some 200 metres, at which point it turns through 40 degrees. In this area there are several upright slabs some of which may be heavily robbed cist graves similar to the ones which survive further north. This turn is related to the configuration of the contours. Some 60m north of the turn is a point where two sections of wall join unconformably - it may be suggested that the work of two different gangs met up at this point. About 100 and 140m north of this the reave incorporates two small mounds, each some 5m in diameter. These are very small barrows of the type well known elsewhere in the Plym Valley (e.g. at Drizzlecombe) and may be related to the barrow with a cist some 15m to the west of the reave here, and to the traces of robbed cists further south (see above).
To the north of the Hentor Brook the reave can sometimes be seen underneath the tumble of a more recent wall. There are several gaps, of uncertain date, and a vermin trap. 225 metres north of the Hentor Brook there is a short spur running westward, and a disjointed piece of early walling on the same line as the spur. It is not clear whether this walling is robbed or unfinished, or whether it was connected, or intended to be connected, with walls associated with the hut settlement further to the west. 60 metres north of this point the reave parts company with the recent wall. Although from this point it seems to have been heavily robbed, there seems little doubt that traces of it can be followed, curving westwards, on the slope down to the Plym, where it apparently ends.
The reave system can only be interpreted as a boundary system, probably of a territorial nature, and appears to be contemporary with the Bronze Age hut circles and enclosures.

Ordnance Survey, 1975, OS/75/369, 145-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDV254607.

National Monuments Record, 1976, SX5865, 3/439 (Aerial Photograph). SDV152032.

Fleming, A., 1978, The Prehistoric Landscape of Dartmoor. Part 1: South Dartmoor, 97-123 (Article in Serial). SDV235265.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX56NE123 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV346704.

(19/04/1979) The reave runs from SX 58246440 at 338.0m OD to SX 58596597 at 307.0m OD. It is complete for most of its length and is generally as described in Fleming (1973). But see also plan with annotations.
The two "barrows" annotated on the line of the reave at SX 582653 are very doubtful. The most southerly adjoins a gap in the reave and could simply be the debris from it. The other 35.0m to the north east, appears as a swelling at a kink in the reave and could be the result of rebuilding or even gangwork.
Reave surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.

Balaam, N. D. + Smith, K. + Wainwright, G. J., 1982, The Shaugh Moor Project: Fourth Report - Environment, Context and Conclusion, 250 (Article in Serial). SDV145845.

Continuation of Cholwich Town contour reave. Appears to divide upper moorland and settled lower moorland. Course probably continued beyond Plym at Ditsworthy using watercourses.

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

Visible and recorded (no photograph references given).

Fleming, A., 1988, The Dartmoor Reaves: Investigating Prehistoric Land Divisions, 9, 44, 98, figs 5, 22 (Monograph). SDV229071.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 140752, MPP 140486 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(15/04/1995) Willings Walls Reave is of the contour type and its function seems to have been to separate the higher moorlands from the grazing lands on the lower slopes. There is some dispute concerning its route and length and the manner in which it has been named is not helpful. The reave named by Fleming as the Cholwichtown reave is part of the same land division boundary and therefore although named separately this single contour reave once extended (except where natural features were followed) between the Eylesbarrow and Rook reaves which form the edges of the prehistoric territory named Plym by fleming. The Willings Walls and Cholwichtown Reaves together thus effectively split the Plym territory into 2 parts.
Only a relatively short length of the reave lies within this monument and it can be traced from SX 58426552 on the Hentor Brook to SX 58246441 at Spanish Lake Head where it disappears below deep peat. Within this monument the reave survives as a 2m wide rubble bank standing up to 0.8m high. Two gaps in the reave may represent the site of original entrances. The first at SX 58236465 survives as a 2m wide gap denoted on the north by a slight west turn in the reave and on the south by a large orthostat. The second possible entrance lies at SX 58206494 close to two hut circles. This survives as a 3m wide gap and is thought to be original because of its sheltered position, proximity to the hut circles and an inturned terminal of the reave on the northern side. At SX 58276531 a marked kink in the reave may indicate the position where two separate gangs of builders working from opposite ends met. At SX 58306535 a small cairn lies on top of the reave whilst at SX 58226520 another lies immediately next to and east of the reave. At SX 58186515 there is a marked change in the alignment of the reave and this coincides with the presence of a substantial structure which has been variously described in the past as a stone circle, cist grouping, enclosure and ring cairn. It has been suggested that the reave builders used this feature as a landmark during construction. The reave has seen limited damage as a result of historic activity, when a farmstead and associated field system was constructed upon part of it.
Another section can be traced from SX 58446554 on the Hentor Brook to SX 59396637 on the Shavercombe Brook with a branch leading to SX 58606597. This branch may represent the original route taken by the reave before the decision was taken to reroute it along the slopes of Hentor Warren. The branch length of the reave survives as a slighter earthwork and whilst this may be because of peat accumulation it seems more likely to represent the original character of the reave when first constructed before it was made more massif. Unfortunately it is not possible to compare this length of reave with the other lengths surviving within the monument because elsewhere the reave has been refurbished during the medieval and post-Medieval periods. Within Willings Walls Warren however the reave has not seen refurbishment and here the surviving earthwork measures 2m wide and 0.8m high. By contrast the branch reave survives as a 0.8m wide rubble bank standing up to 0.3m high. The reave continued to form an important land division boundary in the historic period. The Medieval and post-Medieval fields within Hentor Warren all hang off the reave with some being attached to the lower side and some on the upper. Since the reave continued to form an important boundary within field system it was refurbished. This involved adding more stone and earth and in places drystone walling was built. In later years when the warren was established at Hentor small parts of the reave were modified. At SX 58486562 a vermin trap (SX56NE/248) was built across it, whilst at SX 58716586 a pillow mound was built upon it.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 128, Map 49. (Monograph). SDV137656.

Depicted and described by Butler.

Robertson, J. G., 1994, The Archaeology of the Upper Plym Valley (Post-Graduate Thesis). SDV139549.

Depicted and described by Robertson.

Thackray, C., 1994, The Upper Plym Valley: the management of an historic landscape, 161-3, 102.974, 102.540 (Report - non-specific). SDV143510.

The National Trust Upper Plym Inventory suggests that the reave instead of leading to the River Plym turns sharply at SX 58586580 and continues north-east where it survives below a later medieval field boundary before terminating above the Shavercombe Brook. This route is accepted by Butler, who goes one stage further and suggests that the reave did not finish at the Shavercombe Brook but instead utilised the brook as a natural feature before crossing the River Plym at SX 59156660 where another field boundary can be traced leading past the stone rows at Drizzlecombe towards Higher Hartor Tor. The MPP archaeologist favours Butler’s route but notes that a second reave, not surveyed by Mercer, leads north along the alignment described by Fleming. It is therefore possible that the route envisaged by Fleming did in fact once exist, but was replaced by the one described by the National Trust and Butler. The reave named by Fleming as the Cholwichtown Reave is part of the same land division boundary and therefore although named separately this single contour reave once extended (except where natural features were followed) between the Eylesbarrow and Rook reaves which form the edges of the prehistoric territory named Plym by Fleming. The Willings Walls and Cholwichtown Reaves together thus effectively split the Plym territory into 2 parts.

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

(20/05/2002) This feature is as described by the Fleming et al (1973) though the interpretation of the gap at SX 58216495 is erroneous. At this point the reave is pierced by a medieval or later boundarywork see SX 56 SE 84).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8148 - The Upper Plym Valley: The Management of an Historic Landscape
• EDV8155 - Plym Valley Survey

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