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Summary

This unenclosed scattered hut settlement consisting of seven huts. Recorded in 1980 as being in poor condition. One has a subdivision and another is set within a circular yard, or has utilized the remains of a large hut. There is no surface trace of field walls in association with this settlement.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1018927: Unenclosed stone hut circle settlement on Walkhampton Common, 1000m north east of Leeden Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57SE29
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 440109
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57SE/45
• Old SAM Ref: 28729

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Group of seven 'Hut Circles' shown on 19th century map.

Baring Gould, S., 1898, Fifth Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 99 (Article in Serial). SDV337066.

Victoria County History, 1906, The Victoria History of the County of Devon, 356 (Article in Serial). SDV238214.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1951, SX57SE29 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV216331.

One of a group of 10 hut circles at Yes Tor bottom on Walkhampton Common. Flint implements and fragments, pots and pot-boilers, found in the area (citing Rowe's Perambulation, p 416)
See related records for details.

Royal Air Force, 1964, 58/6399, 42-3 (Aerial Photograph). SDV225273.

Ancient Monuments, 1973, Schedule Description, 26/4/1973 (Schedule Document). SDV271976.

Very fine group of hut circles, all large. Entrances consistently on south-west. They are set, unenclosed, beside a small stream - one of the huts juts out into the stream on a platform. Under moorland grass.

National Monument Record, 1976, SX5772, 2 (Aerial Photograph). SDV271979.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX57SE29 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV275887.

(16/06/1980) An open settlement of seven huts, is centred at SX 57107251, and situated at 361 metres OD on a west slope (see plan) All the huts appear to be of Type 2 (SX 56 NE 71) and are in poor condition. They have levelled interiors, with diameters measuring from 3.2 metres to 8.0 metres and walling averaging 1.2 metres wide and 0.5 metres high. Where visible entrances are to the south and south-west.
One hut, at SX 57097246, has an internal sub-division and another, at SX 57137257 is within a circular yard 9.7 metres in diameter or has utilized the remains of a large hut.
No associated fields or plots are visible in the vicinity of the settlement. Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and at 1:2500.

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

A group of ten hut circles at Yes Tor Bottom on Walkhampton Common. Only six of these hut circles are visible on the aerial photographs and they correspond to those shown on the Ordnance Survey card and plan dated 1964.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 22, Map 44, Figure 44.5 (Monograph). SDV137656.

A widely dispersed group of 7 hut circles of mixed sizes; the largest hut is 7.6 metres and the best preserved hut is 5.5 metres. There seems to have been little interference with the site and the oval shapes of three huts are probably the result of the upper walls collapsing down the slope. The other three buildings are all of 3.2 metres in diameter.

Fletcher, M. J., 2007-2008, Walkhampton Premier Archaeological Landscape; Field Investigation Project (Report - Survey). SDV359195.

(29/07/2007) This unenclosed scattered hut settlement lies in thick moorland grass. There is no surface trace of field walls.
Surveyed at 1:2500 scale.

Ordnance Survey, 2019, MasterMap 2019 (Cartographic). SDV362729.

Seven huts are shown on the modern mapping, which appears to match the aerial photography of the area fairly well.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1018927 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

The monument, which falls into three areas of protection, includes an unenclosed stone hut circle settlement situated on a gentle west facing slope overlooking the Yes Tor Brook. The settlement includes at least nine stone hut circles which survive as circular or oval banks each surrounding an internal area which varies from 5.3 square metres to 38.5 square metres. The height of the surrounding walls varies between 0.3 metres and 0.9 metres. Three of the huts have visible doorways, one contains a partition and they are all of orthostatic or rubble bank construction.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8351 - Walkhampton Premier Archaeological Landscape; Field Investigation Project
• EDV8429 - Excavation of site at Yes Tor

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