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Summary

Two sub-rectangular enclosures containing four hut circles and associated structures on the gently sloping eastern flank of Lee Moor above Spanish Lake. Previously identified as having seven huts associated with it but some of these are thought to be later in date and may represent re-use of the site.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1018356: Stone hut circle settlement 600m ENE of Great Trowlesworthy Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE3
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439112
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/17
• Old SAM County Ref: 495
• Old SAM Ref Revised: 24119
• Old SAM Ref: 10691

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSED HUT CIRCLE SETTLEMENT (Late Bronze Age to Late Iron Age - 1000 BC to 42 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX56SE3 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV139161.

(01/06/1950) Enclosure and hut circles. A compound enclosure of the usual Dartmoor type. Walling of turf and heather covered stones reaching an average height of 0.5 metres. No obvious entrances.
See related records for detail.

Ordnance Survey, 1975, OS/75/369, 145-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDV254607.

Not visible on air photographs.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX56SE3 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV139156.

(27/05/1977) SX 58546462. The irregular enclosure lies on a steep well drained west-south-west facing slope, at 365 metres above OD. It is divided into two by a lynchet, 0.5 metres high upon which are the possible remains of a wall. The upper portion is 40 metres by 30 metres, the lower 35 metres by 20 metres,
total area 0.2 hectares. The wall, 1.3 metres wide and 0.4 metres high, is in poor condition. It is constructed of small boulders and has no definite entrance.
The enclosure contains 6 type 1 hut circles, average internal diameter 3.0 metres walls 1.0 metres thick; five are built on the line of the wall and one, 'D' shaped, onto the outside. None of the huts are terraced, all are in poor condition and the two entrances visible open into the enclosure; one facing north, the other south. The 'D' shaped hut has a possible annex with an internal diameter of about 2.0 metres. There is no evidence of cultivation within or adjacent to the enclosure.

National Monument Record, 1977, SX5864, 2 (Aerial Photograph). SDV139162.

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

Enclosure visible at SX58526453 containing 8 hut circles, all attached to interior walls. The enclosure is agglomerated, of three elements.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP133393, 18/5/1994 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Agglomerate enclosure containing 7 stone hut circles. Enclosure includes 2 elements and covers 0.25 hectares. The western enclosure is the earliest, measures 32 metres by 18 metres and is defined by a 2 metre wide and 0.75 metre high partly faced rubble wall.
Five stone hut circles survive within this enclosure and all of them are linked to the surrounding boundary wall. The interior of the eastern and later enclosure measures 40 metres by 32 metres and is defined by a partly faced rubble wall. Two stone hut circles lie within this enclosure and both are linked to the boundary wall. The stone hut circles are all connected to the agglomerate enclosure boundary wall and each includes circular banks of stone and earth surrounding an internal area. See related records for huts.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 162-3, Map 51, Figure 51.5 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Two adjoining enclosures within Settlement 'B' at 'Upper Spanish Lake' have an irregular outline which seems to have been designed to link some of the seven hut circles while others were later demolished.

Robertson, J. G., 1994, The Archaeology of the Upper Plym Valley (Post-Graduate Thesis). SDV139549.

Enclosures and hut circles depicted and described by Robertson.

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

(23/04/2002) Centred SX 58546463. Two sub-rectangular enclosures containing four hut circles lie on the gently sloping eastern flank of Lee Moor above Spanish Lake.
The western enclosure measures 17 metres north to south by 33 metres while the more irregular eastern enclosure averages 26 metres north to south by 42 metres. Both are bounded by substantial stony banks around 2.0 metres wide and up to 0.8 metres high. The latter have been enhanced by the later dumping of cleared surface stone. There are no obvious entrances in these enclosures.
Several of the hut circles have also been subject to the dumping of clearance material. The two huts in the eastern enclosure now resemble cairns and it is possible that one feature previously recorded as a hut is a pile of clearance material in a wall corner.

English Heritage, 2005-2008, Prehistoric Survey Information (Cartographic). SDV345521.

Enclosures shown on survey.

GeoInformation Group Ltd, 2010, 1:625 2010 Colour (12.5cm resolution) (Aerial Photograph). SDV346026.

Conjoined enclosure and hut circles visible on the aerial photograohy.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

Depicted on the modern mapping.

English Heritage, 2015, National Heritage List for England, 1018356 (National Heritage List for England). SDV357602.

This monument includes two agglomerate enclosures and a cluster of stone hut circles lying on a gentle west facing slope of Lee Moor overlooking the valley of Spanish Lake.
The northern agglomerate enclosure includes two elements and covers 0.25ha. The western enclosure is the earliest, measures 32m long by 18m wide and is defined by a 2m wide and 0.75m high partly faced rubble wall. Five stone hut circles survive within this enclosure and all of them are linked to the surrounding boundary wall. The interior of the eastern and later enclosure measures 40m long by 32m wide and is defined by a partly faced rubble wall. Two stone hut circles lie within this enclosure and both are linked to the boundary wall. The stone hut circles within the northern agglomerate enclosure survive as banks of stone and earth each surrounding a circular internal area. The internal diameters of these huts vary between 2m and 3.3m, with the average being 2.8m. The heights of the surrounding walls vary between 0.4m and 0.7m, with the average being 0.54m. Two of these huts have visible doorways and two are attached to each other.
Scheduling amended in 2001.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, UP-HT12 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

(16/03/2020) All huts identified during condition visit. Condition is moderate; vegetation encroachment is an issue throughout the site.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs (Photograph). SDV363073.

Series of images taken during March 2020 visit.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8148 - The Upper Plym Valley: The Management of an Historic Landscape

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