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Summary

Group of at least two, possibly three huts, close to a relict prehistoric boundary on Hanger Down. Originally single hut recorded in 1985, site visit in 2017 identified a second similar hut and a smaller feature (possible hut). Fragmentary remains of a possible enclosure bank to the south-west (MDV125801).

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthwork remains of an extensive Prehistoric to Medieval field system on Hanger Down

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX65NW47
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1408986
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX65NW/166

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

National Monuments Record, 1979, NMR SF1457, 284-306 (Aerial Photograph). SDV172921.

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

Looks like a hut circle, but not very prominent, on the National Monuments Record 1979 aerial photograph.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1985, Hut circle on Hanger Down (Worksheet). SDV157791.

Visited 10/1/1985 Hut circle on Hanger Down approximate external diameter of 9.0 metres. At southern end of Hanger Down, immediately on south side of a relict boundary. Consists of a slightly sunken circular area surrounded by a low bank and looks like a possible hut platform. No stones visible.

Gerrard, S., 1993-2010, Monument Protection Programme Alternative Action Report (Report - non-specific). SDV145710.

Visited in 2002. Considered under the Monument Protection Programme but not recommended for scheduling

Bray, L. + Crabb, A., 2017, HER Field Updates, HD1-HD3 (Cartographic). SDV361914.

Visited 21/04/2017 and plotted using GPS and photographed.

Bray, L., 2017, Prehistoric settlement 550m east of Sherrell Farm, HD1-HD3 (Worksheet). SDV363038.

This feature was originally recorded as a hut circle (MDV27663), here identified as HD1. It consists of a circular, level platform with a diameter of approximately 6.0 metres, surrounded by a low, earthwork bank of up to 0.2 metres high and 2.0 metres in width, giving a total external diameter of around 10 metres. A gap in the bank on the south-eastern side suggests an entrance.
In addition to this feature, a further hut circle, HD2, was observed 10 metres to the east. This was very similar in character and dimensions to HD1, although the surrounding earthwork was more pronounced to the north where the platform appeared to have been cut into the slope and reached 0.3 - 0.4 metres in height. HD2 lacked any sign of an entrance in the surrounding bank.
A third feature, HD3, was located between HD1 and HD2 to the north and consisted of a well-defined depression approximately 2.0 metres in diameter possibly surrounded by an earthwork bank up to 1.0 metre in width although its relationships with HD1 and 2 and the adjacent relict boundary to the north, HD5/6, were not clear. Interpretation of this feature is difficult, but it could be the remains of a small hut circle.
Also recorded, is a curving earthwork boundary (HD7) to the south-west (MDV125801), which may be the incomplete remains of a surrounding enclosure.
Taken together, HD1, HD2 and HD3 suggest the presence of an enclosed prehistoric settlement, probably of Middle Bronze Age date attached to a reave (HD5 and HD6) to the north.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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