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Summary

Enclosed hut circle settlement to the west of Owley Moor Gate and south of Scad Brook of 140 metres by 110 metres with five circles. A hut within this settlement was excavated in 1952.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Group of two large Bronze Age enclosures containing five hut circles each and a single hut circle with small enclosure at Owley Corner

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX65NE15
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 441144
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX65NE/22
• Pastscape: 441144

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map, 1906 edition: Sheet 119SE (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/CPE/UK/1890, 1215-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDV169268.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX65NE15, Plan (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV176953.

(27/03/1950) An enclosure at SX 6679 5980 in poor condition containing the remains of four hut circles.

Hurrell, H. G., 1953, Some Aspects of a National Park (Article in Serial). SDV176947.

Fox, A., 1961, 25th Report on the Archaeology and Easly History of Devon, 67-69, fig 5 (Article in Serial). SDV362608.

One of the huts inside the enclosure 1/4 mile west of Owley Moor Gate SX 667598, was excavated by 1952.The hut was faced internally with large slabs of local granite and had an internal diameter of 16 feet. On the left of the door, which faced south-east was a recess 2 feet by 3 feet 6 inches which may have been used as a store. The original floor was some 17 to 20 inches below the present ground level. In the middle of the hut was a hearthstone with scattered fragments of charcoal and six cooking stones. Finds included thirty sherds of extremely coarse pottery, reddish on one side and black on the other; three small flints and a broken piece of whetstone. The most unexpected find was a black rounded piece of haemetite 1 inch by 3/4 inch by 5/8 inch which was exceedingly smooth and shiny and had probably been used for polishing.

Plymouth Museum Archaeology Group, 1961, Settlements at the Scad Brook (Plan - measured). SDV176909.

Enclosure centred at SX 6675 5980 containing seven hut circles.

Gaskell-Brown, C. + Hankin, C., 1975, Archaeological Check-List of Ugborough Parish, 315 (Article in Serial). SDV160589.

Hut circles near Owley Gate, SX 668599. D.C.R.A. Register SX 65 NE/22.

Weston-Super-Mare, 1975, BT 1713 (Aerial Photograph). SDV176949.

Oblique photograph taken on 1st November 1975.

National Monuments Record, 1977, NMR SX6660, 2/354-359 (Aerial Photograph). SDV176911.

Photographs taken on 20th May 1977.

Robinson, R., 1978-1985, Ugborough Parish checklist (Worksheet). SDV141520.

(Based on oral information from Hurrell, H. G., who excavated the site in 1952/3)
Track from Owley Gate to Glasscombe Corner passes through a group of two enclosures and twelve hut circles either side of Scad Brook. Best preserved huts are on higher ground above the track - one very prominent. Majority of hut circles have entrances to south-east.
Owley, near Owley Moor Gate. One of several huts inside enclosure. Very prominent with well-preserved walls but no 'standing stones'. Clearly preserved doorway in south-east part of the wall; faced with large slabs of local granite. Inside hut to right of doorway there is a kind of storeplace or receptacle made up of three stones giving an inside area against the wall 686 millimetres deep. Hearthstone was in the middle of the hut with scattered fragments of charcoal and six cooking stones (excavation 1952). Thirty sherds of very coarse pottery were collected, reddish on one side and black on the other - including a base, a piece of plain rim of a large vessel and an almost complete lug. Three small pieces of flint were found and a broken piece of whetstone. Also a black rounded piece of haematite which may have been used for polishing.

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

Enclosure not very clearly visible on 1946 aerial photograph. Three hut circles possibly inside. Area approximately 1.125 hectares.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, 82-83, Map 56, Figure 56.1 (Monograph). SDV337765.

Bronze Age hut circle settlement 'B' at Owley Gate Encosures unfinished on the south-western side, enclosing five huts clustered near the centre of the enclosure of between 4.9 - 6.0 metres in diameter and are all covered in vegetation. One is better preserved and has an entrance facing south-east and a floor well below ground-level. It was excavted in 1952 and the normal assemblage of finds were recovered (charcoal and cooking stones near the hearth, flints, a whetstone and fragments of pottery). More unusual was a piece of haematite which appears to have been used as a polisher.

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

Considered under Monument Protection Programme by previous Monument Protection Programme Advisor. Not recommended for scheduling.

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

Enclosure is indistinct on the aerial photography but can be traced when compared with Butler's plan of the site.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, UG12 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

(04/04/2019) Condition assessed as moderate; vegetation the main damage agent for this site; in summer is totally obscured. There are paths ( human and livestock) cutting through the bank in various locations.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs, UGB12 (Photograph). SDV363073.

Visited 08/04/2019. 12 X photos taken giving coordinates at each point
1) SX67038 59683 looking west north west A general overview of the site
2) SX66750 59754 looking west showing a tree in the bank on the south west side of the enclosure bank
3) 4) 5)taken at various locations on the west side of the enclosure bank showing the paths cutting the bank
6) SX66788 59871 looking west north west showing a tree in the north east section of the enclosure bank
7) SX66814 59872 looking south showing the path cutting the enclosure bank on the east side
8) SX66829 59806 looking south at hut 6
9) SX66808 59833 looking west at hut 7
10) SX66784 59827 looking west north west at hut 8
11) SX66772 59818 looking east north east. This is possibly hut 9
12) SX66785 59843 looking north north east at hut 10

Riley, H., 2021, Archaeological Survey: Ugborough Premier Archaeological Landscape, Harford and Ugborough, 13, 7.2.2, Figure 3 (Report - Survey). SDV364697.

Five enclosed settlements lie along the Glaze Brook valley between Owley Corner nd Glaze Meet.

Riley, H., 2021, UG21 heritage asset database and gazetteer of sites (Report - Survey). SDV364699.

Visited on 20th April 2021, surveyed and photographed. D-shaped enclosure with five hut circles, south of Scad Brook, Owley Corner: 110 metres north-west to south-east, 140 metres north-east to south-west, defined by stony bank 1.3 metres wide, 0.8 metres high to west, north and east, utilising a clitter field to south. Trackway crosses enclosure north-west to south-east, probably using original entrances and exposing inner stone core in places.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV5849 - WHETSTONE (Prehistoric - 698000 BC to 42 AD)
• FDV5848 - FLAKE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
• FDV5850 - POLISHER (Early Neolithic to Late Iron Age - 4000 BC to 42 AD)
• FDV5846 - HEARTHSTONE (Early Bronze Age to Late Iron Age - 2200 BC to 42 AD)
• FDV5847 - SHERD (Early Bronze Age to Late Iron Age - 2200 BC to 42 AD)

Associated Events

• EDV8460 - Excavation of hut circle, Owley
• EDV8770 - Archaeological Survey: Ugborough Premier Archaeological Lanscape, Harford and Ugborough

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