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Summary

An oval enclosure of probable Bronze Age date is recorded from field investigation and aerial survey defined by a stony bank and slight ditch, on the north-facing slopes of Shaugh Moor. The northernmost bank incorporates the earthworks of a presumably contemporary a hut circle. The enclosure is visible on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards and visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1002517: Pounds and hut circles N of Saddlesborough

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE43
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439232
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/29
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56SE/30
• Old SAM County Ref: 428
• Pastscape: 439232

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSED HUT CIRCLE SETTLEMENT (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC)

Full description

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

Enclosure shown on 19th century map with three 'Hut Circles' to the north.

Rowe, S., 1896, A Perambulation of the Forest of Dartmoor, 180 (Monograph). SDV249697.

Worth, R. H., 1943, The Prehistoric Pounds of Dartmoor, 291 (Article in Serial). SDV320337.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/3G/TUD/UK/223, RAF/3G/TUD/UK/223 Vp 2 5140-5141 12-JUL-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV352279.

An oval enclosure and hut circle are visible as earthworks.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, 2299 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Worth, R. H., 1953, Dartmoor, 151 (Monograph). SDV231148.

Department of Environment, 1959, Pounds and hut circles north of Saddlesborough (Schedule Document). SDV138641.

A fine and complex Moorland settlement, consisting of a group of enclosures with associated hut circles. There are two large pounds, a number of small rectangular cultivation enclosures with 21 huts, mostly outside the enclosures. Stone walls average 0.6 metres – 0.9 metres high. The huts have an internal diameter of 6.1 metres or less.

Royal Air Force, 1964, RAF/58/6399, RAF/58/6399 F64 0382-0383 02-JUL-1964 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363068.

An oval enclosure and hut circle are visible as earthworks.

Cambridge University, 1967, CUC/AQX, CUC/AQX 49 (Aerial Photograph). SDV355237.

National Monuments Record, 1976, NMR SX5563 (Aerial Photograph). SDV138651.

Wainwright, G. J. + Fleming, A. + Smith, K., 1979, The Shaugh Moor Project: First Report, 1-33 (Article in Serial). SDV138650.

Enclosure with hut circles in vicinity. There is a partly cut stone trough in the wall of the enclosure. Extensive and intensive investigations of these and other features (cairns etc.) in vicinity 1976-1980 and beyond by Department of Environment Central Excavation Unit, as part of its Shaugh Moor project. These two pounds were surveyed but not excavated.
Other details: The First Report (plans, sections, photos).

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX56SE43 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV138649.

(Visited 04/09/1980) The trough in the southern wall of the enclosure appears to have been cut 'in situ' (See ground photograph). Of the three huts, the eastern excavated example is of Type 2 with walling 1.6 metres wide and 0.6 metres high. The others are probably of Type 1, with rubble walls incorporating inner facing slabs, 1.4 metres wide and 0.6 metres high, but heavily overgrown. Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. (See plan).

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX56SE43 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV138649.

(04/09/1980) The homestead enclosure is centred at SX 55956348 and is as described by K. Smith (1980).
The single hut is of Type 1 (SX 56 SE 19)
The trough in the S wall of the enclosure appears to have been cut 'in situ'. (See ground photograph).
Of the three huts, the eastern excavated example is of Type 2 (SX 56 NE 71) with walling 1.6m. wide and 0.6m. high.
The others are probably of Type 1, with rubble walls incorporating inner facing slabs, 1.4m. wide and 0.6m. high, but heavily overgrown.
Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. (See plan).

Smith, K., 1980, Typescript notes and plan of Shaugh Moor (Un-published). SDV138646.

A large oval enclosure 53.0 metres from north-west to south-east and 43.0 metres from south-west to north-east on the north-facing slope with the interior characteristically cleared of all clitter save for large earth-fast boulders. There is no obvious entrance although some possible gaps may have been partially obscured by sheep-tracks. The wall construction is narrow, about 1.0 metres wide, consisting of monoliths and roughly coursed dry-walling. A characteristic feature is the occurrence of slender upright monoliths in the wall which sometimes occur in pairs. Their purpose is obscure as no useful structural function can have been served other than that of marker stones. Similar monoliths occur in the wall of enclosure 15, (NMR: 439229, SX56SE42). A square trough in a rough block is let into the wall on its south side. On the north side of the enclosure is a hut 6.50 metres in diameter. The enclosure wall curves in towards the hut with which it forms a single entity. The hut is well-preserved with a single entrance facing south-west and with the majority of the inner wall liners still standing.
There is an incomplete enclosure north-west of the main enclosure. It comprises a ruinous arc of walling associated with three hut circles. The chord of this arc is 35 metres long from north-east to south-west and this probably represents the diameter of the original enclosure from which stone was removed to construct the complete and well-preserved main enclosure. See associated records for hut details.

Robinson, R., 1982, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1982 (Un-published). SDV345608.

Department of Environment Field Monument Warden site visit 21st April 1982.

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

An agglomerated enclosure of three elements is visible on Royal Air Force 1946 photos with six hut circles attached to its walls and with another attached to a short reave inside the enclosure.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 99-102, Map 48, Figure 48.3 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Enclosure A; one of seven enclosures with associated hut circles in the area. It is a double enclosure; the southern, larger unit of the enclosure is best-preserved and incorporates one hut circle in its perimeter wall (measuring 6.5 metres in diameter). The walls of the enclosure are still substantial and are constructed in a decorative manner, with taller slabs regularly spaced around the outside. The associated enclosure to the north of the main enclosure has three huts interrupting its walls, one of which (Hut 4) was excavated in 1960-1963 and radiocarbon dated to approximately 1250 BC. This hut still retains its doorposts at the entrance, which is 0.8 metres wide. Charcoal, flint flakes, pebbles and a scraper were recovered from the excavation, while post holes below the wall showed the stone building replaced an earlier structure of timber. Other details: Map 48, 3.

Fletcher, M. + Probert, S., 1998, Shaugh Moor, Devon: An Archaeological Survey (Report - Survey). SDV343481.

(Visited 03/12/1997) Centred SX55956349. An impressive and well preserved enclosure which incorporates one hut circle is located on a slight boulder-covered slope on the north-facing hillside of Saddlesborough. To the north-west an `annex' comprises three hut circles each linked by a curvilinear boulder/stone wall. The enclosure has a double-faced wall with a boulder/stone core which on the downhill side is spread to 2.6 metres wide and is on average 0.6 metres high. There is a slight ditch on the external side of the wall on the uphill side which may be a drainage channel. Gaps in the walling on the south-east side each about 0.6 metres wide may be modern mutilations.
The position of the entrance is not clear but there are a number of narrow gaps in the wall notably in the north-east quadrant. The hut circle at SX559 66350 has clearly been utilised by the enclosure wall. It measures 9.0 metres in overall diameter and the boulder and stone faced walling is 1.2 metres wide and 0.5 metres high. The position of the entrance is not clear. The three hut circles to the north-west lie on a slight north-facing slope.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 1999-2017, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery SX5563 31-MAY-2016 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363087.

An oval enclosure and hut circle are visible as earthworks.

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

The English Heritage survey shows one hut circle incorporated into the wall of the southern enclosure, and three associated with the fragments remaining of the northern section. This agrees with Butler (1994) and appears more accurate than the MasterMap (2011) depiction of the site.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

MasterMap shows three small hut circles incorporated in the enclosure wall of the southern part of this settlement enclosure, but there may only be one. Three small huts associated with the remaining fragments of the northern section appears accurate.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: South Devon to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5563 Tellus DTM 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV361514.

An oval enclosure and hut circle are visible as earthworks.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, SM28 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

Visited 08/09/2019. A clearly defined well preserved enclosure. There are two Antiquity Star poles sited to the north east and the south east of the enclosure, both 5meters outside the enclosure wall. The enclosure boundary is 100% covered with bracken and the inside area is 30% covered with low height western gorse and low height bracken with grass in between. The enclosure is lightly grazed. The site is very stable. Photo taken

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs, SM28 (Photograph). SDV363073.

Visited 08/09/2019. A photo taken looking south west from the roadside bank showing the enclosure as a line of bracken.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2021, 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 3.2m wide is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of 1946 onwards, defining an oval enclosed area approximately 52m by 45m across on the north-facing slopes of Shaugh Moor. Stonework visible within the bank material, particularly on the south-east side of the enclosure, is interpreted as evidence of a ruined wall.
Similar stonework is visible defining a smaller, roughly circular enclosed area circa 6m in diameter, incorporated into the norther side of the enclosure boundary bank. This is interpreted as the remains of a hut circle.
The enclosure bank curves inwards to abut the hut circle, which might support the interpretation that the enclosure post-dates the hut circle.
Despite the poor resolution of the available data, the enclosure is identifiable as an earthwork on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013.
Three unenclosed hut circles are visible immediately to the north-west of the enclosure.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4967 - Shaugh Moor Survey (1997-1998)
• 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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