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Summary

Hentor farmstead is thought to have Medieval origins although most of the visible features are probably of post-Medieval date. The farmstead is delimited on the north by the farmhouse and other buildings, on the west and south by a 1m wide and 0.4m high stone wall, and on the east by the Phillips Leat which probably overlies an earlier leat.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019082: Multi-period remains at Hentor Warren

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX56NE128
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 438864
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX56NE/126
• Old SAM Ref: 24222
• Old SAM Ref: 24230(P)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FARMSTEAD (Early Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2494, 3129-30 (Aerial Photograph). SDV147533.

A deserted Medieval site, known as Hen Tor, at SX 590656, consisting of the remains of five buildings and enclosures.

Royal Air Force, 1953, RAF/58/1110, 1110.0040 (Aerial Photograph). SDV142083.

Linehan, C. D., 1965, Deserted Sites on Dartmoor, Devon, 174 (Article in Serial). SDV217992.

Hentor Warren. Extensive ruins; two buildings and remains of earlier walls; another building nearby with yards, crofts and enclosures in boggy ground; two other buildings west of this group, one inside and one outside the boundary fence of the enclosure.

Linehan, C. D., 1966, Deserted Sites and Rabbit-Warrens on Dartmoor, Devon, 124-5 (Article in Serial). SDV307246.

Haynes, R. G., 1966-1969, Ruined Sites on Dartmoor, 45,plans (Un-published). SDV150434.

(Visited 08/10/1966) A strongly built farmhouse of dry stone. Granite trough is visible in the yard. Probably abandoned c.1830. A lease was renewed in 1807. The clayworks leat damages one building and it was opened in 1835. The house is not on 1842 Tithe Map.

Haynes, R. G., 1970, Vermin Traps and Rabbit Warrens on Dartmoor, 159 (Article in Serial). SDV166302.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX56NE128 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV162487.

(13/03/1979) The remains of Hentor Warren House and accompanying buildings. According to R. J. Haynes, the warren house itself is a longhouse. It and two outbuildings are in good condition. At SX 5908 6562 are the scant remains of another longhouse - possibly an earlier building on the site. The fields are to the south of the farm, and seem to incorporate prehistoric field walls. Two pillow mounds in the fields.The remains of Hentor Warren House and accompanying buildings. According to R. J. Haynes, the warren house itself is a longhouse. It and two outbuildings are in good condition. At SX 5908 6562 are the scant remains of another longhouse - possibly an earlier building on the site. The fields are to the south of the farm, and seem to incorporate prehistoric field walls. Two pillow mounds in the fields.

Price, D. G., 1980, The Moorland Plym, 81-86 fig. 2a (Article in Serial). SDV254604.

Hentor Warren house had three rooms, the southernmost having two niches or cupboards. Of drystone construction. Outbuildings included a long narrow structure with a dividing wall, adjoining on south, its purpose not known. Another small building could have been a doghouse. Also what was possibly a loading platform. In use till early 19th century, its relatively longer survival perhaps due to income being supplemented by warrening.

National Monuments Record, 1983, NMR SF2134, 53 (Aerial Photograph). SDV238551.

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

L-shaped farmstead connected to large field system crf:SX56NE/385 visible (aerial photo evidence) on the north facing slope of Hentor Warren, and to small field system crf:SX56NE/379 on western slope of the down.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 140435, 18/05/1995 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Hentor farmstead is thought to have Medieval origins although most of the visible features are probably of post Medieval date. The farmstead forms the focal point of the field systems in this area and these cover approximately 101 hectares to the north, west and south. The farmstead is delimited on the north by the farmhouse and other buildings, on the west and south by a 1m wide and 0.4m high stone wall, and on the east by the Phillips Leat which probably overlies an earlier leat.
The earliest reference to the settlement, in the form of Hyndetorr dates to 1375. Its post Medieval use is well documented though there is no evidence of continuous occupation from the 14th century. It was still in use during the Napoleonic wars when Peter Nicholls cultivated broad rig. At some unknown date the farmstead became associated with pastoral farming. It may be assumed that warrening began after cultivation had ceased, as some pillow mounds are situated within fields. Hentor Warren, was established at least by 1807. The house was finally abandoned in the 1820's or 1830's.
It is known that the water supply to the farm was carried in a leat from Shavercombe Brook and although this leat no longer survives it is very likely that the later Phillips Leat which passes immediately upslope of the farmstead follows the same course.

Robertson, J. G., 1994, The Archaeology of the Upper Plym Valley (Post-Graduate Thesis). SDV139549.

Thackray, C., 1994, The Upper Plym Valley: the management of an historic landscape, 233-42/102.910 (Report - non-specific). SDV143510.

Probert, S. A. J. + Fletcher, M. J., 2002, Plym Valley survey (Report - Survey). SDV350782.

(23/04/2002) Hentor House is described by Robertson (1994) as a two-compartment rectangular structure...well-built and well-preserved. It lies on the northern side of a group of buildings, described by the Ordnance Survey (1979), that formed the core of Hentor Farm. Three other structures at SX 58916554, SX 58996555 and SX 59096562 (the latter described by English Heritage; schedule description) lie divorced from this complex.
Hentor is first mentioned a document of 1375 though, according to Robertson, its origin is probably earlier. It is not possible to determine whether any structures dating from this period have survived. In line with most Plym Valley, and Devon, farmsteads the site was extensively rebuilt in the 16th or 17th centuries. Robertson suggests that Hentor House was a lobby-entrance, two-storied building in the style of many properties in the eastern half of the county. The site had been abandoned by the late 18th century. The creation of a warren at Hentor appears to be a relatively late event as the first record is not until 1807. It is possible that it was established following the cessation of habitation and was worked as part of the Ditsworthy holding.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8148 - The Upper Plym Valley: The Management of an Historic Landscape
• EDV8155 - Plym Valley Survey

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