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Summary

Enclosure wall with possible hut circle recorded on Tor Royal survey plan (1982). This 'wall' is a curvilinear boulder line on a steep NE hillslope, above the broad Cholake Valley, between 340,& 355m OD. It forms a crescentic-shaped 'barrier' across the slope but it has almost certainly never been a complete enclosure. Composed of large boulders pushed into a single, or on places a crude double, line it varies in width from 0.9m to a maximum 1.8m and in height from 0.3m to 0.7m. Large natural earthfast boulders are incorporated where they occur on line with at least two narrow gaps towards the N end. The E end is lost in marsh of the silted river valley and the N end merges into a broad clitter spread. It is doubtfully of prehistoric origin and was probably either a shelter belt for stock, a line of clearance material, or possibly part of the sub-division of the Tor Royal enclosure.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67SW256
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 620413
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SW/141
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SW/141/1

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• (Former Type) HUT CIRCLE? (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC)
• WALL (Constructed, Post Medieval to Early 20th Century - 1540 AD (Between) to 1901 AD (Between))

Full description

Dartmoor National Park Authority, 1982, Survey of Tor Royal Farm (Report - Survey). SDV218978.

Enclosure wall with possible hut circle.

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

Not visible.

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

(08/06/1988) See SX67SX/238 (?).
(12/02/1989) SX 61627361 to SX 61767351. This 'wall' is a curvilinear boulder line on a steep NE hillslope, above the broad Cholake Valley, between 340, & 355m OD. It forms a crescentic-shaped 'barrier' across the slope but it has almost certainly never been a complete enclosure. Composed of large boulders pushed into a single, or on places a crude double, line it varies in width from 0.9m to a maximum 1.8m and in height from 0.3m to 0.7m. Large natural earthfast boulders are incorporated where they occur on line with at least two narrow gaps towards the N end. The E end is lost in marsh of the silted river valley and the N end merges into a broad clitter spread.
It is doubtfully of prehistoric origin and was probably either a shelter belt for stock, a line of clearance material, or possibly part of the sub-division of the Tor Royal enclosure (as planned at Strane Head by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt in the C18/19th (see SX 67 SW 239)
It is depicted on the OS 1:2500 plan in 1951.
The alleged hut circle (SX67SW/141) at about SX 61707351 was probably identified from APs. The site on the N side of the wall is evident as a slight eroded marshy scoop with some isolated earthfast boulders in the vicinity. It was caused by the action of cattle as they sheltered against two large natural boulders located in the wall and is almost certainly not a hut circle.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8628 - Tor Royal Farm Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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