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Summary

A very fine hut circle levelled into the slope. It measures 11.1 metres (north-south) by 11.9 metres with a level interior which is 7.1 metres (north-south) by 8.1 metres with a 0.5 metre high back scarp. The wall with a boulder/stone core is faced internally and externally with slabs and boulders on average 0.6 metres high. The well-defined entrance is in the west quadrant. The field evidence suggests that the reave was built against the hut. The area has been generally disfigured by tracks, paths and water gullies.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1002520: Hut circles W of Saddlesborough
• SHINE: Bronze age landscapes on Shaugh Moor and Wooter Moor comprising earthworks and walling of enclosures, hut circles, cairns, stone circles and rows, reaves and field systems, and medieval and post medieval field systems

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56SE49
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439248
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX84NW/24
• Old SAM County Ref: 431

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

A bank enclosing an oval hollow is visible.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, 2299-2300 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1980, SX56SE49 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV150218.

(11/10/1950) Four hut circles, one lying outside the northern boundary of the fields.
(04/09/1980) A rather ruinous but large hut 8.00 in diameter and wall 2.00m thick in which are set many large orthostats. The western half of the hut wall has been removed but the entrance appears to have been orientated south-west. It is sited to the north of the main Saddlesbrough reave on ground sloping gently from east to west. ('A').
Three huts, A, C, and D (see plan) are of Type 2 (SX 56 NE 71) with internal diameters ranging between 7.3m. and 8.3m. and double walling from 1.4m. to 1.8m. wide and up to 1.1m. high. Where visible entrances are to the SW and SE. 'A' outside the field system is much robbed. Hut 'B' is of Type 1 (SX 56 SE 19) and has an internal diameter of 2.9m. The apparently single walling is now represented by five stones around the perimeter with maximum height of 0.4m. Condition poor. (See SX 56 SE 78 for associated field system).
Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD.

Ralegh Radford, C. A., 1953, Prehistoric Settlements on Dartmoor and the Cornish Moors, 73 (Article in Serial). SDV337080.

Royal Air Force, 1964, RAF/58/6399, RAF/58/6399 F64 0381-0382 02-JUL-1964 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363068.

A bank enclosing an oval hollow is visible.

Price, D. G., 1973, Ancient fields on Shaugh Moor, 90/map (Article in Serial). SDV147593.

National Monuments Record, 1978, NMR SX5563, 3/223 (Aerial Photograph). SDV152488.

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

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

Collis, J., 1983, Field Systems and Boundaries on Shaugh Moor and at Wotter, Dartmoor, 59 60 fig 6 (Article in Serial). SDV144058.

House "B". Double row of stones up to 1.0 metre high forming wall 0.6 - 0.7 metres thick with internal diameter of 6.5 metres, entrance 1.0 metre wide. A cross stone links house with reave (SX56SE-115) and there is a limit of another north-south wall west of this, perhaps forming an outhouse.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 103-4, Map 48, Figure 48.4 (Monograph). SDV137656.

Hut circle '2' of 7.4 metres diameter within Settlement 'D' straddling the Saddlesborough reave system associated with the narrow rectangular fields butting the reave. It is attached to the main reave and the adjacent bank and has double skinned walls of large blocks which are mostly in place.

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

(Visited 02/12/1997) Centred at SX 5542 6338. A row of four hut circles situated on a west-facing hillslope in moorland lie between 258 metres and 267 metres above OD. Three of the huts which occur within the parallel reave system (SX 56 SE 78) almost certainly pre-date it as does the fourth hut which lies in isolation beyond the terminal reave.
SX 5542 6338. A very fine hut circle levelled into the slope. It measures 11.1 metres (north-south) by 11.9 metres with a level interior which is 7.1 metres (north-south) by 8.1 metres with a 0.5 metre high back scarp. The wall with a boulder/stone core is faced internally and externally with slabs and boulders on average 0.6 metres high. The well-defined entrance is in the west quadrant.
The field evidence suggests that the reave was built against the hut. The area has been generally disfigured by tracks, paths and water gullies.

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

A bank enclosing an oval hollow is visible.

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

Hut circle shown on survey.

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.

A bank enclosing an oval hollow is visible.

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

Visible on the aerial photography.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, SM19 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

Visited 03/08/2019. Clearly visible in the landscape with low level bracken growing around the raised ground around the circle. The associated reaves are in good condition, clear and distinct in the landscape. The site is lightly visited by walkers and grazed by animals. The site is stable. The Royal Commission Shaugh Moor survey, 1997 description is good. Photo taken

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs, SM19 (Photograph). SDV363073.

Visited 03/08/2019. Photo taken looking south giving an overall view of the hut circle

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 bank is visible as an earthwork under scrub vegetation on aerial photographs of 1946 and 1964, enclosing a roughly oval hollow or terrace up to circa 9m in diameter, south-east of the junction of two reave earthworks on the north-facing slopes of Shaugh Moor.
The visible earthwork is interpreted as the remains of a hut circle of Bronze Age date that probably predates the adjacent reave earthwork.
The bank and hollow remain visible as earthworks on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2007 to 2016, on which substantial stone settings are visible within the bank, possibly defining the original extent of the hut circle.
The bank is identifiable as a probably spread earthwork 3m to 4m wide on visualisations derived from low resolution lidar data captured in 2013.

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

Hut circle shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1002520 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

The monument includes four stone hut circles with parts of the Saddlesborough reave and the Shaugh Moor coaxial field system on a hillside overlooking the Plym Valley. The four stone hut circles straddle the Saddlesborough reave and three are within narrow rectangular fields which form part of the Shaugh Moor coaxial field system. Two stone hut circles abut the Saddlesborough reave and two separate cross reaves. The stone hut circles vary in size from 4 metres to 8 metres in diameter internally and are composed of a combination of rubble and double stone faced walls standing up to 2 metres wide and 1 metre high.

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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