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Summary

Post Medieval building inside Bronze Age enclosed hut circle settlement (E) at Trowlesworthy Tor. Unknown function but may have served as the warrener's house or as a miner's or quarryman's house

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019084: Partially enclosed stone hut circle settlement and post-medieval warren structures on the western slope of Little and Great Trowlesworthy Tors

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX 56 SE 76
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/241
• Old SAM Ref: 24233

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WORKERS COTTAGE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1953, RAF/58/1110, 0038 (Aerial Photograph). SDV142083.

Linehan, C. D., 1966, Deserted Sites and Rabbit-Warrens on Dartmoor, Devon, Table 124. (Article in Serial). SDV307246.

Trowlesworthy Tor: one building showing late development with enclosures. (NB: site misplaced by Linehan: originally located at sx56se/197)

Haynes, R. G., 1966-1969, Ruined Sites on Dartmoor, 141, 7/2/1967 (Un-published). SDV150434.

Trowlesworthy Pound. SX576 642. A small two room drystone house with trace of lean-to on the west and porch on the south-east. Possibly a miner's or quarryman's house but very far from water and in an exposed position.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX56SE76 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV173874.

21/5/1977 Rectangular, two-roomed building, 10.8 metres by 5.3 metres overall, with contemporary south-east wing, 5.6 metres by 4.4 metres. Built of coursed boulder walls, 0.8 metres wide, 1 metre high. Entrance is in the wing, and has a fine jamb. The building lies on a gentle south west facing slope within a Bronze Age enclosed settlement. Could be associated with Trowlesworthy Warren. It is medieval or later date.

Price, D. G., 1980, The Moorland Plym, 81-93 (Article in Serial). SDV254604.

Ruined two-roomed building on Trowlesworthy Warren, near "the Smithy". It was the house of a quarryman or a tinner. Porch entrance with the trace of a lean-to on west wall.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 140701, (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

12/4/1995 Rectangular building on a south-west facing slope of Trowlesworthy Tor, overlooking the Blacka Brook, and situated within a prehistoric enclosure. This building is considered to be of historic date and material used in its construction may have been taken from nearby abandoned stone hut circles. The walls of the building are of drystone construction, measure 0.9 metres wide and stand up to 1 metres high. Interior is divided into two rooms. The north-east room measures 4.3 metres by 3.2 metres and is separated from the other room by a 0.8 metre wide and 0.7 metre high partition. The south-west room measures 4 metres by 3.2 metres wide and the exterior doorway leads into this room through the south-east wall. East of this door is a flanking wall which leads south-east to a horseshoe shaped outbuilding composed of rubble walling with inner and outer facings standing up to 0.8 metres high. The interior of this structure measures 2.5 metres square. Attached to the north-west side of the two roomed building is an outshut which survives as a rectangular area measuring 2.5 metres by 2 metres defined by lines of large stones protruding through the turf.
The function of this building remains uncertain. Price suggests that it is likely to have been a quarryman's or even a tinner's house, although clearly it could have equally been associated with warrening or upland grazing.

Thackray, C., 1994, The Upper Plym Valley: the management of an historic landscape, 27, 102.072 (Report - non-specific). SDV143510.

'Warrener's House' a well-preserved, 2-compartment, rectangular building situated within enclosure. Composed of dry-stone coursed masonry, surviving to 0.7 metres high. North-east compartment measures 4 metres by 3.5 metres internally; south-west compartment measures 4.5 metres by 3.5 metres internally. South-west compartment has partition wall 2 metres from the northern end extending for 2 metres into interior. Gap in east corner of south-west compartment may be an entrance. East of this is a flanking wall which leads south-east to a horseshoe-shaped outbuilding composed of inner and outer facings and some rubble. Dimensions 11 metres by 5.2 metres externally; height 0.7 metres. Dimensions of outbuilding 1.8 metres by 1.5 metres internally, 5 metres by 5 metres externally. Oriented north-east by south-west. Haynes suggests 17th century date.

Probert, S. A. J. + Fletcher, M. J., 2002, Plym Valley survey, 20/05/2002 (Report - Survey). SDV350782.

The ruined structure is as described in 1977. There are no obvious internal features such as fireplaces or cupboard recesses. The origin and function of this building are unclear.

English Heritage, 2005, Survey Information (miscellaneous date) (Report - Survey). SDV345855.

Feature visible on survey.

White, P., 2013, Previously Unsurveyed Dartmoor Historic Farmsteads (Un-published). SDV352501.

Trowlesworthy Tor listed. No further information included.

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

Building visible on aerial photograph.

Ordnance Survey, 2016, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359352.

Building is depicted on the modern mapping.

Historic England, 2016, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV359353.

Two post-medieval buildings and a cache survive within the monument. The southernmost building lies within the large agglomerated enclosure and the material used in its construction may have been taken from nearby abandoned hut circles. The walls of the building are of drystone construction, measure 0.9 metres wide and stand up to 1 metre high. The interior is divided into two rooms, the north-eastern measures 4.3 metres long by 3.2 metres wide and is separated from the other room by a 0.8 metres wide and 0.7 metres high partition. The south-western room measures 4 metres long by 3.2 metres wide and the exterior doorway leads into this room through the south-eastern wall. East of this door is a flanking wall which leads south eastward to a horseshoe shaped outbuilding composed of rubble walling with inner and outer facings standing up to 0.8 metres high. The interior of this structure measures 2.5 square metres. Attached to the north western side of the two roomed building is an outshut which survives as a rectangular area measuring 2.5 metres long by 2 metres wide defined by lines of large stones protruding through the turf. The function of this building remains uncertain, although it has been suggested that it is likely to have been a quarryman's or even a tinner's house, although clearly it could have equally been associated with warrening or upland grazing.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7369 - Survey of Granite Loading Bays at Trowlesworthy, Devon

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