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Summary

This oval enclosed settlement, 60m by 50m, lies in a hollow on a steep, well drained, clitter strewn slope. The double-faced wall, 2.0m wide, 0.7m high and in fair condition, is built of large boulders and has a simple entrance 3.5m wide on the south side. The clitter strewn interior contains two terraced hut circles, average internal diameter 5.4m, whose walls, average width 0.8m, are in poor condition. One has a south facing entrance.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1017397: Enclosure with hut circles south-west of Penn Beacon

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE61
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439279
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/4
• Old SAM Ref: 10744

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSURE (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, Devon County Council RAF/CPE/UK/1890 2292-2293 10-DEC-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

An oval enclosure and two hut circles are visible as stony earthwork banks.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1977, SX56SE61 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV138590.

(30/05/1950) Enclosure and hut circles, in fair condition. There is no evidence of cultivation within or adjacent to the settlement.
(23/08/1977) SX 59756275. This oval enclosed settlement, 60m. by 50m. and 0.2 ha., lies in a hollow on a steep, well drained, clitter strewn slope at 395m. above O.D. The double-faced wall, 2.0m. wide, 0.7m. high and in fair condition, is built of large boulders and has a simple entrance 3.5m. wide on the south side. The clitter strewn interior contains two terraced type 2 hut circles, average internal diameter 5.4m., whose walls, average width 0.8m., are in poor condition. One has a south facing entrance.
There is no evidence of cultivation within or adjacent to the settlement. (Type site: SX 56 NE 71).
1:10 000 Survey on P.F.D.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1963, Monuments Threatened or Destroyed. A Select List: 1956-1962, 14 (Monograph). SDV289739.

Fleming, A. + Collis, J. + Jones, R. L., 1973, A Late Prehistoric Reave System near Cholwich Town, Dartmoor, 9 (Article in Serial). SDV358808.

Visited in April 1972. The enclosure was examined in the course of work on the Cholwich Town reave south. It is possible that the presence of the enclosure caused a deviation in the route of the reave; its entrance faces south, and the only usable land nearby is to the south and south west. It is suggested that the reave deliberately swung to the south to allow a sort of 'home paddock' for the inhabitants of the enclosure.

National Monuments Record, 1976, SX5962, 1 (Aerial Photograph). SDV138591.

Photograph taken on 8th April 1976.

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

Visible and recorded containing two hut circles. A linear feature runs across the north of the enclosure and then crosses a reave.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 176-7, Map 52, Figure 52.2 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Oval enclosure at 'Penn Beacon South-west' of roughly 50 metres across includes two hut circles. The boundary wall is substantial, much of it of loosely piled blocks but well preserved at its original width of 2.0 metres around the eastern perimeter where many of the vertical and layered slabs are still in place. It seems to have been built to its greatest height around the uphill side where the spread ruins still reach 1.5 metres high. The original entrance was through the present much enlarged gap midway along the south side as the wall curves in slightly at this point and the western pair of cross-slabs remain in position. Displaced stones show the gaps in the northern wall to be later features.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5962 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

An oval enclosure is identifiable as an earthwork.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM XX-XXX-2002 ACCESSED 14-OCT-2019 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

An oval enclosure and two hut circles are visible as stony earthwork banks.

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

Visible on aerial photograph.

Google, 2019, Google Earth Pro, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 22-JUN-2018 ACCESSED 14-OCT-2019 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363088.

An oval enclosure and two hut circles are visible as stony earthwork banks.

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.

A stony bank up to 5m wide is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards and visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013, defining a roughly oval enclosed area approximately 45 by 55m across on the higher south-west facing slopes of Penn Moor.
A hut circle approximately 5m in diameter is visible within the enclosure at circa SX59756277, and a second larger hut circle, up to 9m across, either abuts or has been incorporated into the eastern enclosure boundary bank.
A possible entrance is visible as a break less than 2m wide in the southern in-turned edge of the enclosure, but this may be damage caused by modern access.
Concentrations of scattered stone adjacent to the interior north-west side of the enclosure bank might be evidence for additional former hut circles.

Ordnance Survey, 2021, MasterMap 2021 (Cartographic). SDV364015.

Western of two 'Settlements' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1017397 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

This enclosure with hut circles lies on the south-west slope of Penn Beacon and is sub-circular, measuring 60 metres by 50 metres, with banks up to 3 metres in width and 1 metre in height. There is a probable entrance to the south which is 3 metres in width and there are traces of orthostatic facing around the bank. There are two huts within the enclosure, one is 10 metres in diameter with walls 2 metres in thickness and up to 1 metre in height and an entrance to the south-east; the other is 5 metres in diameter with walls 2 metres in thickness and 0.7 metres in height.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

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