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Summary

Two stone-built parallel curvilinear banks or walls, thought to define the extent of a Neolithic hillfort or Tor enclosure are recorded, enclosing the south-west facing promontory that forms the summit of Dewerstone Hill. The visible earthworks are up to circa 275 metres long, but it is difficult to define what area of the promontory was considered to be enclosed.
A smaller enclosure and hut circle of probable Bronze Age date are located within the area of the enclosed promontory.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020241: Prehistoric enclosures on Dewerstone Hill, 500m south east of Dewerstone Cottage
• SHINE: Earthwork remains of prehistoric enclosures and hut circles on Dewerstone Hill, surrounded by 19th century stone working quarries

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SW14
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439553
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SW/11
• Old SAM County Ref: 314
• Old SAM Ref: 34436.01

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HILLFORT (Constructed, Early Neolithic to Late Iron Age - 4000 BC (Between) to 42 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

'Embankment' shown on 19th century map as a double feature along most of its length.

Pilkington-Rogers, C. W, 1932, The Date of the Dartmoor Antiquities, 384-5, map (Article in Serial). SDV149513.

Pilkington-Rogers suggested, in his 1932 paper on the date of Dartmoor antiquities, that the ring of ancient camps (including the camp on Dewerstone) circling Dartmoor dated to the early Iron age. In making this suggestion Pilkington-Rogers was following Christopher Hawkes in assuming that all hillforts, with the exception of causewayed enclosures, dated to the early Iron age. The date of the Dartmoor camps being supported by finds of Iron age material from excavations at Cranbrook Castle and Holne Chase camp.

Fox, A., 1939, Unknown Title, 178 (Article in Serial). SDV251444.

Worth, R. H., 1943, The Prehistoric Pounds of Dartmoor, 277-8, fig 4 (Article in Serial). SDV320337.

Dewerstone hillfort. Defences: two dry stone walls, collapsed, 3 metres apart and each 3 metres wide. Marginal stones visible, no ditch. Entrance at the southern end, 1.829 metres wide, northern end 0.914 metres wide. Inside is a hut with enclosure attached, entrance on southern side. Hut diameter 7.62 metres. Probably contemporary.
The neck of the ridge on Dewerstone Hill is crossed by two parallel walls. These are ruined, but there is a clear space between them averaging nine feet in width. The walls were apparently about five feet thick and the original space between them was between twelve and thirteen feet. Their plan is convex to the north, and they bend round on the east and west to tie in with natural rock exposures on the steep slopes of the hill.
At point B, fig 4, there are the confused remains of some buildings within the walls. The only trace of earthwork is from M to N where the steep hillside has been scarped. There is nothing on Dartmoor comparable with this, except on the summit of Whittor (SX 57 NW 8).
The pound, 150 yards to the south is incomplete. To the south the wall ties in on the west side with the rock exposure. On the east side it probably ran from O to P and tied in similarly. In shape it is approximately rectangular with rounded angles and probably covered an area of 1.14 acres. Length 280 feet, breadth 175 feet. There is one hut circle, which is involved in the pound wall, and has a width of about 4 feet.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK, 3238 (Aerial Photograph). SDV71055.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK/1190, 3237-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDV340833.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/3G/TUD/UK/223, RAF/3G/TUD/UK/223 Vp2 5139-5140 12-JUL-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV352279.

Curvilinear banks or walls are visible.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1952, SX56SW14, SX56SW14 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV251433.

Encampment, Bronze age. Promontory fort containing hut circle and pound.
Dewerstone Promontory Fort. Defences; two drystone walls, collapsed. No ditch. Inside is a hut with enclosure attached, entrance on south side. Hut diameter 25 feet. Probably contemporary (Fox, A. April 1951).

Fox, A., 1964, South West England: 3,500BC-AD600, 92, 123, 257 (Monograph). SDV135818.

Worth suggested that the Dartmoor pounds, as a monument class, date to the early Bronze age based excavations at Broadun, Foales Arrishes, Grimspound, Legis Tor, Merrivale, Riders Rings, Watern Oke, Whittor and Yes Tor Bottom. Worth considered the pound on Dewerstone to be unusual in two respects; that the walls were stone built and not earthwork and in the fact that the pound lies inside a double outer defensive wall. The only comparable site on Dartmoor was considered to be the double walled enclosure on Whittor.
In May 1960 a middle Bronze age pottery cup (SX 56 SW 19) was found some 300 yards north-east of the Dewerstone enclosure.

Pettit, P., 1974, Prehistoric Dartmoor, 55-6, 178-9 (Monograph). SDV231149.

Pettit, in his 1974 book on Prehistoric Dartmoor, commented that although Dewerstone has been attributed to the Iron Age there is no evidence for occupation in that period. Pettit suggested that the pound dates to the Bronze Age and that the two outer walls were built across the promontory during the Iron Age.

National Monuments Record, 1979, SF1520, 146-150 (Aerial Photograph). SDV149521.

Silvester, R. J., 1979, The Relationship of First Millennium Settlement to the Upland Areas of the South West, 188-189, figs 1, 5 (Article in Serial). SDV177352.

Silvester prefers to call Dewerstone site a "tor enclosure". Hut circle and pound can be traced within enclosure, but these may not be contemporary. Siting of enclosures on higher moors, and the style of construction suggest a date earlier than Iron Age: 2nd or even 3rd millennium suggested.

Todd, M., 1980 - 1989, The Southwest to AD1000, 76-77 (Monograph). SDV139884.

Todd echoed Silvester's view, suggesting in 1987 that Whittor, Dewerstone and Stowe's Pound fall outside the categories of 'hillfort', 'pound' or 'enclosed settlement' and distinguishes these three sites in terms of their situation on prominent granite outcrops and in their use of the natural rock formations in the enclosure walls. Dating evidence is slight due to the lack of excavation information.

National Trust, 1984, Goodameavy, Devon, 10 (Report - Survey). SDV337035.

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

Visible on the aerial photographs and recorded on map overlay (the transcription shows seven hut circles within the enclosure (Griffiths, F. M.). The rocks on the summit have the appearance of a small enclosure. The south-east end of the double wall appears to have descended to the stream below.

Robinson, R. + Griffith, F. M., 1986, Dewerstone enclosure, Visited 6/5/1986 (Worksheet). SDV251440.

Condition of the site is stable as described by previous authors. Hut circles shown by the Royal Commission for the Historic Monuments of England were not identifiable. The 'ramparts' are certainly curious, but does that make it Neolithic (?) the most striking feature is the smallness of the rampart stones: it could never have been a wall, more a stone unstructured bank.

Griffiths, F. M., 1989, DAP/LR, 14-15 (Aerial Photograph). SDV251447.

Griffith, F. M., 1989, DAP/LR, DCC DAP/LR 14-15 12-MAY-1989 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363498.

Curvilinear banks or walls are visible.

Griffith, F. M., 1989, DAP/LS, 1-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDV267566.

14-15

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 152994, 8/1/2001 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Prehistoric enclosure on Dewerstone Hill. Tor enclosure consisting of two parallel rubble banks cutting off a level promontory at Dewerstone Hill. The gap between the walls is around 1 metre, although it was probably originally greater. The entrance is 12 metres by 2 metres and the adjacent walls are up to 0.7 metres high. The entrance is severely waterlogged and there is active erosion within this area. Covered with bracken and grass.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 97-98, Map 48, Figure 48.2 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Ideal location for one of the vey few prehistoric fortifications on the high moorland. Defensive walls starting at the edge of the precipitous drop above the Plym barred the only easy approach from the north-east along the ridge. These were doubled on the eastern side and across the centre as far as a small outcrop with an interval of about 4.0 metres between them. Around the western slopes a single wall sufficed, originally probably continuous as far as the Tor, but becoming less substantial as the gradient increased and now diminished to a step in the hillside. A short section just east of the summit rocks, robbed for the modern enclosure wall downhill may also be part of the defences. The walls, collapsed and spread into structureless rubble banks, seem to have been rather hastily constructed. Occasional set slabs are visible aligned within the banks and the best preserved sections around the eastern side were framed with small upright slabs about 2.0 metres apart. The ruins of some buildings within the walls noticed by Worth are no longer easy to recognise though a few upended slabs just west of the ridgeway entrance seem to be the foundations of a hut circle. The entrance may be original as the space between the walls alongside is blocked with rubble to the height of the banks on either side.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1994, The Dewerstone, Meavy, Devon (Report - Survey). SDV359804.

Analytical earthwork survey of the two enclosures on the summit of Dewerstone Hill. The outer enclosure is potentially Neolithic, while the inner is probably of Bronze Age date. The stone-built double wall of the outer enclosure is poorly preserved with an average height of 0.7 metres and given its loose composition is unlikely to have stood higher than 1.5 metres. The inner and outer walls now have average widths of 4 metres and 3.4 metres respectively.

Oswald, A., 1996, Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic (Report - non-specific). SDV345741.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5363 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

Curvilinear banks or walls are identifiable.

Griffith, F. M. + Wilkes, E. M., 2011, In the Footsteps of Pioneering Women; Some Recent Work on Devon Hillforts (Article in Serial). SDV361500.

Griffith, F. M. + Wilkes, E. M., 2011, In the Footsteps of Pioneering Women; Some Recent Work on Devon Hillforts (Article in Serial). SDV361500.

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

Part of the 'Enclosure' earthworks depicted on the modern mapping.

Historic England, 2016, National Heritage List for England, Accessed 07/10/2016 (National Heritage List for England). SDV359353.

The prehistoric enclosures on Dewerstone Hill, 500 metres south east of Dewerstone Cottage survive well and will contain information relating to the use of this strategic location throughout later prehistory. The larger enclosure is considered to be of Neolithic date and very few examples of this type of site are thought to survive in South West England.
The monument includes two enclosures and associated stone hut circles situated on the summit of a steep sided promontory overlooking the confluence of the rivers Meavy and Plym. The interior of the largest enclosure measures 220 metres long by 170 metres wide and is denoted by two parallel rubble walls separating the promontory from its surroundings. These walls consist largely of loose rubble, measure 4.0 metres wide and stand up to 0.7 metres high. The gap between the two walls is around 1.0 metres, although this was probably originally greater. A gap cutting through the walls represents the site of an original stone faced entrance passage, which now measures 12.0 metres long by 2.0 metres wide. There are no traces of walling adjacent to the steep slopes around the southern part of the monument. It is considered that this structure represents the site of a Neolithic hilltop enclosure.

National Monument Record, 2016, Pastscape (Website). SDV359354.

The date of the pound and double, outer walls on Dewerstone has been the subject of changing interpretations over the last sixty years (citing Field Investigators Comments, Rec 2, KMF, 10-NOV-1994).
(SX 5395 6406) In November 1994, Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England carried out an analytical earthwork survey of the two enclosures on the summit of Dewerstone Hill, as part of the project to record Enclosure and Industry in the Neolithic Period. The outer enclosure is potentially Neolithic, while the inner is probably of Bronze Age date and has therefore been assigned a new National Monuments Record number (SX 56 SW 32).
The stone-built double wall of the outer enclosure is poorly preserved with an average height of 0.7 metres, and given its loose composition is unlikely to have stood higher than 1.5 metres. The inner and outer walls now have average widths of 4.0 metres and 3.4 metres respectively. Five probable or possible entrances through the double wall were identified; the existence of so many may support the hypothesis that the enclosure is of Neolithic date. Contrary to Worth (1943), the 'confused remains of buildings' probably result from heavier than average robbing (see SX 56 SW 33), and even if structural are unlikely to be contemporary. In addition, the earthwork resulting from the naturally steep slope (D on plan) may be an incline associated with later quarrying (SX 56 SW 34) rather than part of the enclosure. The interpretation based on the interpretation of aerial photographs (Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England Aerial Photograph Project, 1985) should be regarded as unreliable; there is no evidence that the south-eastern end of the double wall ever continued as far as the River Plym.
No firm evidence as to the date of the enclosure was revealed by the survey, and the form of the double wall remains difficult to parallel; those sites mentioned by previous sources all differ in various ways. For further details, see Royal Commission of the Historical Monuments of England Level 3 client report and earthwork plan at 1:1000 scale, held in archive (citing Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic Project: Dewerstone Hill Survey).

Environment Agency, 2019, National Lidar Programme, LIDAR SX56SW Environment Agency DTM 25-FEB-2019 (Cartographic). SDV363691.

Curvilinear banks or walls are identifiable.

English Heritage, 2019, Scheduled Monument Consent, 04/10/2019 (Correspondence). SDV363725.

Consent granted for the excavation of two small-scale evaluation trenches (locations informed by geophysical survey), in order to discover the materials present to help date the siite and and obtain range finder dates to indicate when certain activities at the site may have occurred (e.g.: cross-cutting/related features identified in the survey). Also to conduct environmental sampling and direct observation and recording of the sediment and stratigraphy.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2020, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

Two stone-built parallel curvilinear banks or walls circa 4 to 6 metres wide and up to 2 metres apart are visible on aerial photographs of 1946, 1989 and visualisations derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2017, crossing the spur of Dewerstone Hill for circa 190 metres, cutting the promontory of Dewerstone Rock off from the hill to the north-east.
A bank circa 5 metres wide and 60 metres long is identifiable on the north-west facing slopes of the spur approximately 20 metres to the south-west. This is interpreted as a probable extension from the of the west end of the double banks, increasing the boundary length to circa 275 metres long.
The visible earthworks or structures are not characteristic of Iron Age hillforts, and it seems probable that the boundaries are evidence of earlier enclosure, perhaps evidence of a poorly understood class of monument known as a Tor enclosure of Neolithic date.
The south-western extent of the enclosed area was probably defined by the natural topography. With the exception of a smaller enclosure and hut circle of probable Bronze Age date, located near the summit of the hill (MDV63617 and MDV2381), no further earthworks were identified that could be interpreted to define the south-western extent of the enclosure. As such, without greater understanding of Tor enclosures, no sensible estimate of what the ‘internal’ area of the enclosure was can be made.

Historic England, 2021-2022, NRHE to HER website, Accessed 27/09/2021 (Website). SDV364039.

Summary description:
A poorly preserved stone-built double walled enclosure, the outer of two enclosures (see SX 56 SW 32 for the other). Thought to represent the site of a Neolithic hilltop enclosure.
Full description(s):
(SX 53956408) Earthwork (NR)
(SX 53836394) Enclosure and Hut circle (NR). (1)
Dewerstone Promontory Fort. Defences; two drystone walls, collapsed. No ditch. Inside is a hut with enclosure attached, entrance on south side. Hut diameter 25 feet. Probably contemporary. (2)
The neck of the ridge on Dewerstone Hill is crossed by two parallel walls. These are ruined, but there is a clear space between them averaging nine feet in width. The walls were apparently about five feet thick and the original space between them was between twelve and thirteen feet. Their plan is convex to the north, and they bend round on the east and west to tie in with natural rock exposures on the steep slopes of the hill.
At point B, fig 4, there are the confused remains of some buildings within the walls. The only trace of earthwork is from M to N where the steep hillside has been scarped. There is nothing on Dartmoor comparable with this, except on the summit of Whittor (SX 57 NW 8).
The pound, 150 yards to the south is incomplete. To the south the wall ties in on the west side with the rock exposure. On the east side it probably ran from O to P and tied in similarly. In shape it is approximately rectangular with rounded angles and probably covered an area of 1.14 acres. Length 280 feet, breadth 175 feet. There is one hut circle, which is involved in the pound wall, and has a width of about 4 feet. (3)
The rocks at "P" on the summit of the ridge have the appearance of a small enclosure. The southeast end of the double wall appears to have descended to the stream below. (4)
The date of the pound and double, outer walls on Dewerstone has been the subject of changing interpretations over the last sixty years.(5) Pilkington-Rogers suggested, in his 1932 paper on the date of Dartmoor antiquities, that the ring of ancient camps (including the camp on Dewerstone) circling Dartmoor dated to the early Iron age. In making this suggestion Pilkington-Rogers was following Christopher Hawkes in assuming that all hillforts, with the exception of causewayed enclosures, dated to the early Iron age. The date of the Dartmoor camps being supported by finds of Iron age material from excavations at Cranbrook Castle and Holne Chase camp.(6)
Worth included Dewerstone, in his 1948 assessment of the prehistoric pounds of Dartmoor, as an example of a simple pound.(3,3a) Worth suggested that the Dartmoor pounds, as a monument class, date to the early Bronze age based excavations at Broadun, Foales Arrishes, Grimspound, Legis Tor, Merrivale, Riders Rings, Watern Oke, Whittor and Yes Tor Bottom. Worth considered the pound on Dewerstone to be unusual in two respects; that the walls were stonebuilt and not earthwork and in the fact that the pound lies inside a double outer defensive wall. The only comparable site on Dartmoor was considered to be the double walled enclosure on Whittor.
In May 1960 a middle Bronze age pottery cup (SX 56 SW 19) was found some 300 yards north-east of the Dewerstone enclosure.(8)
Pettit, in his 1974 book on Prehistoric Dartmoor, commented that although Dewerstone has been attributed to the Iron Age there is no evidence for occupation in that period. Pettit suggested that the pound dates to the Bronze Age and that the two outer walls were built across the promontory during the Iron Age.(9)
The dating of the sites at Dewerstone, Whittor (SX 57 NW 8), Stowe's Pound (SX 27 SE 7 & 31) and Rough Tor (SX 18 SW 5) was reassessed by Silvester in his 1979 paper on first millenium settlement in the south west. All four sites are located close to granite outcrops in potentially defensible positions and can be described as 'tor enclosures' with double, rubble stone wall construction apparent at both Dewerstone and Whittor. Silvester suggests that, although the pound and hut circle lie within the enclosed area on Dewerstone, there is not reason why these should be contemporary. The amount of rubble which has fallen from the walls is quite small, suggesting that the walls never attained any great height and were unlikely to be defensive. Silvester proposed that these tor enclosures are unlikely to date to the Iron age because of their siting on higher moorland and their method of construction. A second to third millenium date for all four enclosures was proposed.(10)
Todd echoed Silvester's view, suggesting in 1987 that Whittor, Dewerstone and Stowe's Pound fall outside the categories of 'hillfort', 'pound' or 'enclosed settlement'. Todd distinguished these three sites in terms of their situation on prominent granite outcrops and in their use of the natural rock formations in the enclosure walls. Todd observed that there has been little excavation of these sites and suggested that dating evidence will always remain slight.(11)
(SX 5395 6406) In Novenber 1994, RCHME carried out an analytical earthwork survey of the two enclosures on the summit of Dewerstone Hill, as part of the project to record Enclosure and Industry in the Neolithic Period. The outer enclosure is potentially Neolithic, while the inner is probably of Bronze Age date and has therefore been assigned a new NMR number (SX 56 SW 32). The stone-built double wall of the outer enclosure is poorly preserved with an average height of 0.7m, and given its loose composition is unlikely to have stood higher than 1.5m. The inner and outer walls now have average widths of 4.0m and 3.4m respectively. Five probable or possible entrances through the double wall were identified; the existence of so many may support the hypothesis that the enclosure is of Neolithic date. Contrary to source (3), the 'confused remains of buildings' probably result from heavier than average robbing (see SX 56 SW 33), and even if structural are unlikely to be contemporary. In addition, the earthwork resulting from the naturally steep slope (d on RCHME plan) may be an incline associated with later quarrying (SX 56 SW 34) rather than part of the enclosure. The interpretation based on source (4) should be regarded as unreliable (12a); there is no evidence that the south-eastern end of the double wall ever continued as far as the River Plym. No firm evidence as to the date of the enclosure was revealed by the survey, and the form of the double wall remains difficult to parallel; those sites mentioned by previous sources all differ in various ways.
For further details, see RCHME Level 3 client report and earthwork plan at 1:1000 scale, held in archive. (12)
SX 53866398. Neolithic hilltop enclosure, defined by two parallel rubble walls standing up to 0.7 metres high. Scheduled. (13)
Sources:
Ref Title (& comments) Year SoR Pages Volume Notes
Dewerstone Hill enclosures/ink survey
Dewerstone Hill enclosures/pencil survey
Dewerstone Hill enclosures
2 sheets
Dewerstone Hill enclosures
(1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)
Default value used to record large numbers of archive items which are not separately catalogued. See Monument Recording Guidelines for details of use. OS 6" 1954
(2) Annotated Record Map
Default value used to record large numbers of archive items which are not separately catalogued. See Monument Recording Guidelines for details of use. Corr 6" (Lady A Fox April 1951)
(3) Devonshire Association reports and transactions 273-303 75, 1943 Plan (R H Worth)
(4) Aerial photograph
Default value used to record large numbers of archive items which are not separately catalogued. See Monument Recording Guidelines for details of use. (RAF/106G/UK 1190 3237-8 27.2.46)
(5) Field Investigators Comments Rec 2 KMF 10-NOV-1994
(6) Devonshire Association reports and transactions 384 64, 1932 CW Pilkington-Rogers. The Date of Dartmoor Antiquities.
(7) Devonshire Association reports and transactions 78-79 95, 1963 A Fox
(8) South-West England, 3500BC-AD600
Previous ed.: London: Thames and Hudson, 1964. 1973 Aileen Fox 92,123,257
(9) Prehistoric Dartmoor 1974 Paul Pettit 55-6,178-9
(10) Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings
This title first adopted with Vol.25 (1967). Previously Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Exploration Society. Nos. 21 & 22 (1963 & 64) had title: Devon Archaeological Exploration Society transactions 188-189 37, 1979 RJ Silvester. The relationship of first millennium settlement to the upland areas of the south west.
(11) A regional history of England
Library holds all published volumes 76-77 M Todd, 1987, South West to AD 1000
(12) VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION RCHME: INDUSTRY AND ENCLOSURE IN THE NEOLITHIC PROJECT: Dewerstone Hill Survey
(13) Scheduled Monument Notification
Default value used to record large numbers of archive items which are not separately catalogued. See Monument Recording Guidelines for details of use. 11-Feb-02
(3a) Devonshire Association reports and transactions 178 71, 1939 A Fox
(12a) VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION RCHME Aerial Photographic Unit aerial transcription of Dartmoor 1985

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7370 - Survey of the charcoal-burning platforms at Goodameavy Woods
• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)
• EDV8400 - Dewerstone Hill Survey

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