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Summary

A Bronze Age settlement comprising three hut circles, two joined enclosures, and a rectangular building platform on an east-facing slope above the River Cowsic.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1008657: Two enclosed stone hut circle settlements 300m south of Broad Hole
• SHINE: Earthworks and surviving walls of a Bronze Age settlement 300 metres south of Broad Hole comprising enclosures with hut circles
• SHINE: Earthworks and surviving walls of a Bronze Age settlement 300 metres south of Broad Hole comprising enclosures with hut circles

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57NE73
• National Monuments Record: SX57NE74
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 965592
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 966584
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57NE/125/1
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57NE/71
• Old SAM County Ref: 551
• Old SAM Ref: 22250

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSED HUT CIRCLE SETTLEMENT (Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Robinson, R., 1982, Comment clarifying site, 1982 (Personal Comment). SDV243513.

Visited 4/9/1982 This is a discrete site from SX57NE/25 (MDV4588). The ground is sloping. Huts lie in line down slope: the two lower joined by a low wall. Traces of a fragmentary enclosure surrounding them. Diameters 3.5-6.0 metres. Highest hut has entrance to south. Rest unclear.

Robinson, R., 1982, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1982 (Un-published). SDV342809.

Visited 4/9/1982.

Robinson, R., 1983, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1983 (Un-published). SDV345762.

Visited 19/1/1983.

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

Not visible on the National Monuments Record aerial photographs.

Robinson, R., 1986, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1986 (Un-published). SDV345664.

Visited 6/9/1986.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 129296, 21/4/1992 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Enclosure 38 metres north-west by south-east by 25 metres north-east by south-west. Defined by lyncheted rubble wall 1.5 metres wide, 0.4 metres high. Possible entrance in north-east side. Part of south length of enclosure wall survives as a buried feature. A hut circle (see related record) is attached to n side of boundary wall.
Enclosure 75 metres north-south by 48 metres east-west internally. Rubble bank 2.0 metres wide, 0.6 metres high, forming lynchet along east length and surviving as buried feature along west. Northern limit of enclosure defined by cairn of 4 metres diameter, 1.0 metre high. Three internal huts plus one attached to east boundary wall.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 64-5, Map 29.14 (Monograph). SDV219155.

The uphill boundary has disappeared from this enclosure, larger than those to the north (MDV4588 and 4623). It occupies a similar position on the west bank of the Cowsic River less than 100 metres downstream. Three huts (3.0 - 4.0 metres in diameter) are built along its perimeter wall but more unusually it includes a cairn within the walls, still substantial despite having been dug into.

Newman, P., 2004, Merrivale Range Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV346874.

30/11/2004 The cairn is more likely to be a very overgrown hut circle.

Newman, P., 2018, Archaeological Sites within Merrivale Training Area, Dartmoor National Park, Devon: A condition survey on behalf of Defence Infrastructure Organisation, 26/02/2018 (Report - Survey). SDV361635.

A hut settlement of three huts and two attached enclosures on a slight shelf above the west bank of the Cowsic River.

Ordnance Survey, 2018, MasterMap 2018 (Cartographic). SDV360652.

Enclosure with two huts depicted on the modern mapping.

Historic England, 2018, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV360653.

This monument includes two enclosed stone hut circle settlements situated on an east facing slope overlooking the River Cowsic. The western settlement includes a small oval enclosure with a single stone hut circle built across the line of the boundary wall. The interior of the enclosure measures 38m north west to south east by 25m north east to south west and is defined by a lyncheted rubble wall measuring up to 1.5m wide and 0.4m high. A gap in the north eastern side of the enclosure wall may represent an original entrance. Part of the southern length of the enclosure wall survives as a buried feature. The stone hut circle attached to the northern length of the boundary wall is situated on a small knoll and is composed of rubble and earth. The interior of this structure measures 3m in diameter and is defined by a 2m wide wall standing up to 0.4m high. The eastern enclosed settlement includes an irregular shaped enclosure, subdivided into two compartments and containing four stone hut circles. Three of these huts are attached to the internal boundary wall and the fourth is freestanding within the southern compartment. The easternmost hut also lies across the line of the enclosure boundary. The internal diameter of all these huts varies between 2.7m and 3.8m and the walls stand between 0.5m and 0.7m high. The interior of the enclosure measures 75m from north to south by 48m east to west and is defined by a rubble bank measuring up to 2m wide and 0.6m high. The bank forms a lynchet along its eastern length, but survives largely as a buried feature along the west side. The northern limit of the enclosure is defined by a cairn measuring 4m in diameter and standing up to 1m high.

Richards, A. F., 2018, Note about 1008657 (MDV18817) (Personal Comment). SDV361690.

The scheduling describes a small oval western enclosure with hut which has not been identified during survey work in 1994 or 2018. May need revision.

National Monument Record, 2018, Pastscape, (1994 data) (Website). SDV360651.

Centred SX 59137825. A settlement and cairn located on a slight shelf on the otherwise steep east-facing slope above the right bank of the River Cowsic. The site comprises two enclosures, two hut circles, a rectangular building platform and a cairn (See related records for details).
The conjoined enclosures measure roughly 60 metres by 50 metres and 30 metres by 35 metres respectively and are bounded by stony banks, 1.2 metres wide and up to 0.6 metres high. There are no obvious entrances through the fragmentary banks. The hut circles and building platform are integral with the common wall between the enclosures. The cairn occupies a position slightly north of centre in the southernmost enclosure (citing Probert, S. A. J., 11/07/1994, Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments in England Field Investigators Comments).

Historic England, 2021-2022, NRHE to HER website, Accessed 24/08/2021 (Website). SDV364039.

NRHE record 966584 also appears to refer to this site, based on the slightly inaccurately located scheduled monument polygon. Detail is brief: Two enclosed stone hut circle settelments 300m south of Broad Hole (07/10/1994: EH Schedule of Ancient Monuments amendments).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7441 - Condition survey of the archaeological sites of Merrivale Training Area
• EDV7570 - Condition survey of Merrivale Range training area
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8713 - Merrivale Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey

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