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Summary

Sixteen hut circles set on a fairly steep east-south-east facing moorland hillslope above a wide sheltered river valley within a fragmentary enclosure.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1011233: Enclosed stone hut circle settlement 260m north of Deadlake Foot

Other References/Statuses

• National Record of the Historic Environment: 400600
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX58SE/15
• Old SAM County Ref: 548
• Old SAM Ref: 22238
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX58SE8

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1995, 2377-2379 (Aerial Photograph). SDV224714.

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/2149, 4282 (Aerial Photograph). SDV282746.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX58SE8, SX58SE8 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV363732.

(19/07/1950) The wall is rather fragmentary, consisting of turf covered stones. The hut circles also are in a fragmentary condition, only a few turf and heather covered stones remain to denote the walls; no entrance is visible in any hut circle.

Ancient Monuments, 1964, Schedule notes (Schedule Document). SDV232685.

(12/08/1964) Settlement east of Hare Tor and Dead Lake; enclosure (40m by 34m) and hut circles 3m to 5m diameter). Group of 16 hut circles with enclosures joined by a terraced trackway to another group of huts across the valley. The areas occupied by the two hut groups form two similar plateaux. The village was presumably divided in this manner due to the shortage of fairly flat ground suitable for hut building.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX58SE8, Sketch plan (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV232686.

Centred SX 5619 8429 Enclosure and hut circles. On the west slope above the Rattle Brook at 432.0m OD is a partly enclosed settlement with seventeen Type 1 (SX 56 SE 19) hut circles, mostly in poor condition. The only complete enclosure is sub-oval, measuring 37m by 48m with double-faced walling 1.0m wide and 0.4m high; there is no obvious entrance. Four huts are incorporated in the walling. Other walling in the settlement is fragmentary and only two other huts are visibly linked. The huts have internal diameters ranging from 2.0m to 4.3m, not all of which appear to have been levelled. The rubble walling varies from 0.6m to 1.3m thick and is up to 0.5m high, with the majority of entrances to the south east. Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD. See ground photograph.

Robinson, R., 1983, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1983 (Un-published). SDV345762.

Department of Environment Field Monument Warden site visit 3rd September 1983.

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

Four hut circles visible on the aerial photographs, one on east bank of Rattle Brook.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset. (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 103-104, Map 32, Figure 32.5 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Settlement at 'Dead Lake Foot' on the west bank of Rattle Brook. Heather covers much of the site and both huts and enclosure walls are overgrown and difficult to follow in places. A deeply worn track cuts through the site from west to north-east. The tops of sixteen huts can be found though there may well be others no longer visible.

Probert, S. A. J. + Newman, P., 2003-2004, Measured survey North Dartmoor Military Range Okehampton Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey (Report - Survey). SDV350801.

(27/05/2004) Sixteen hut circles set on a fairly steep east-south-east facing moorland hillslope above a wide sheltered river valley within a fragmentary enclosure.

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

Hut circles and some boundaries shown on survey.

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

Some features visible on aerial photograph.

Ordnance Survey, 2023, Mastermap 2023 (Cartographic). SDV365227.

'Settlement' and hut circles shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2023, National Heritage List for England, 1011233 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365228.

This monument includes two enclosures, sixteen stone hut circles and a tinners' building situated on an east-facing valley side overlooking the Rattle Brook. The smaller western enclosure measures 48 metres long by 37 metres wide and is defined by a double-faced wall, 1 etre wide and 0.4 metres high. Five stone hut circles are linked to this enclosure wall, which is of a more recent date than the huts. The second larger enclosure is defined by a 1 metre wide and 0.3 metres high rubble wall along its northern edge, the Rattle Brook along its eastern and southern edges and by a steep clitter slope on its short west side. The stratigraphic relationship between the two enclosures no longer survives above ground level, though the difference in wall construction suggests that they may belong to different periods. There are ten free-standing stone hut circles within this enclosure and another is linked to the boundary wall. The enclosure boundary clearly deviates to include this hut in its circuit suggesting that the enclosure was constructed sometime after the hut. The linear distribution of many stone hut circles within the enclosure strongly suggests that they may have once been linked by a palisade or similar structure which now partly survives as a buried feature. The stone hut circles are composed of stone and earth banks surrounding an internal area. The internal diameter of the huts varies between 2m and 6.8m with the average being 3.7m. The height of the surrounding wall varies between 0.3 metres and 0.7 metres. Six of the huts are attached to visible boundary walls and five have identifiable doorways. The tinners' building includes a rectangular one-roomed structure measuring 2 metres long by 1.5 metres wide, defined by a 1 metre wide and 1 metre high orthostatic wall. This building is similar in character to others found in close proximity to tinworks and it is believed that they were used for the storage of tools and other materials.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8679 - Okehampton Range: Management Survey
• EDV8291 - Okehampton Range: Monument Baseline Condition Survey
• EDV8695 - Survey of Okehampton North Dartmoor Military Range

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