See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Settlement of a cluster of four or five hut circles and a length of walling on southern flank of Standon Hill to the north of the Baggator Brook

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Four Bronze Age hut circles and contemporary length of wall north of the Baggator Brook, Willsworthy Range

Other References/Statuses

• National Record of the Historic Environment: 440661
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX58SE/73
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX58SE29

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

University College Swansea, 1968, Fairey Survey, 6939-6558 (Aerial Photograph). SDV221549.

Photograph taken on 29th June 1968. A small length of bank, about 200 metres long is visible at SX554808 leading towards Standon Hill with the appearance and position of a reave.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX58SE29, SX58SE29 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV221550.

(25/10/1979) A fragmentary field system of 4.0 ha. subdivided by a N. to S. wall 142.0m. long, is situated on the steep S. slopes of Standon Hill, centred at SX 554808. The dividing wall averages 3.0m. wide, and is generally 0.5m. high rising exceptionally to 0.9m. and terminates at the N. end in an area of heavy clitter. It is not a 'reave' in the true sense, but incorporates a probably original entrance gap 2.5m. wide near the S. termination from which point it has been robbed, apparently for the newtake wall.
Cleared plots are visible to E. and W. of the wall. They are oriented N. to S. and vary from 6.0m. wide and 20.0m. long to 20.0m. wide and 60.0m. long.
The N. to S. boundaries are formed by rickles of stone or by natural runs of clitter often up to 5.0m. wide and evidently not worth the trouble of clearing. There is little evidence of lynchetting.
Associated with the fields are four hut circles, probably of Type 1 (SX 565619). The northern pair, at SX 55458088, have remnants of rubble walling, 1.1m. wide and 0.2m. high, with S.W. entrances. Their internal diameters are 4.1m. and 4.7m. Further S., at SX 55468081, are two very clear circular house platforms, scooped to a depth of 0.4m. These have been stripped of stone save where they are banked up on the lower sides, and have internal diameters of 5.3m. and 6.0m. with no definable entrances.
No other huts were found but huts (or scoops) may exist in the heavy growth of bracken to the W. of the main wall.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on M.S.D.

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

Not recorded.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 105, Map 32, Site 14 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Three hut circles of 5 to 6 metres diameter all in poor condition with the lowest merely a circular platform levelled into the hillside with all wall stones removed. A north to south running wall is shown to the west of the huts.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1993-1998, Dartmoor Royal Forest Project (Report - Survey). SDV346608.

(18/08/1998) Centred SX 55458083. A cluster of four, possibly five hut circles and what appears to be a solitary length of contemporary walling lie within a largely stone free area within the dense clitter on the S flank of Standon Hill.
Three of the huts (tabulated below) have been robbed to provide stone for an adjacent wall while the two lying higher on the slope are largely undamaged. All the huts are slightly ovoid and have been terraced into the slope. Most possess level interiors and there are no obvious entrances. The walling associated with these huts is an enhanced natural rickle of stones running N to S down the slope. It would seem likely that it provided a repository for clearance stone rather than functioning as an effective boundary. There are no similar features in the immediate area.
NGR, INTERNAL DIAMETER, WALLS: WIDTH HEIGHT, COMMENTS
SX 55458081 5.3 1.0 0.2 Scoop in hillside
SX 55478080 6.0 Poorly defined scoop
in hillside
SX 55508080 4.4 As above
SX 55448089 4.6 1.5 0.4 S wall missing
SX 55458089 5.5 1.3 0.3
All dimensions are in metres.
It lies on granite bedrock under moorland pasture with some invasive bracken.

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

(03/04/2002) The MPPA field investigation of 2002 identified four other hut circles:
SX55478079: 7m diameter hut denoted in places by a 1.4m wide earthwork standing up to 0.5m high. Stones protrude through the arthwork bank.
(The following three huts are located within settlement MDV103558 to the north-east. AR)
SX55808096: A 4m diameter hut denoted by a 0.5m wide and 0.25m high ring of stones protruding through the turf.
SX55898102: A 4m diameter hut denoted by a 1m wide single orthostatic wall standing up to 0.5m high. Possible doorway.
SX55820811: A 4.3m diameter hut denoted by a 0.7m wide single orthostatic wall standing up to 0.4m high. There is a field boundary adjacent to it composed of large stones, 2m wide and 0.5m high.
The group is not recommended for scheduling as it is manageable through the existing sympathetic management regime.

Probert, S., 2001, Willsworthy Training Area, Peter Tavy, Devon. Integrated Land Management Plan Implementation: Archaeological Condition Baseline Survey Appendices 2-5 (Report - Survey). SDV357727.

(15/02/2001) These features remain as described in 1998.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7441 - Condition survey of the archaeological sites of Merrivale Training Area
• EDV7570 - Condition survey of Merrivale Range training area
• EDV8713 - Merrivale Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV7368 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area, Peter Tavy (1998)
• EDV6663 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area
• EDV6664 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area
• EDV6665 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area
• EDV8141 - Condition survey of the Willsworthy Training Area

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.