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Summary

Enclosure of 64 metres by 54 metres with walls 2 metres wide by 0.5 metres high and containing two hut circles lying 650 metres south-west of Cox Tor

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020002: Prehistoric settlement 610m south west of Cox Tor
• SHINE: Walling remains and earthworks of a Bronze Age enclosure with two hut circles and adjoining reave on west side of Petertavy Great Common, circa 540 metres east of Tortown

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57NW45
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 439854
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57NW/24
• Old SAM Ref: 22362

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSURE (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX57NW45 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV226734.

(10/08/1950) Hut Circles correct as shown on Ordnance Survey 6 inch map.
A. Diameter 7.0m Walls 0.3m in height, consist of fairly large stones the majority of which are overgrown with turf, the whole circle being very much overgrown with bracken. Condition fair. Entrance appears to be to NW.
B. Diameter 5.0m. Condition poor, very much overgrown, entrance not apparent owing to the dilapidated appearance of the circle. Height of walls at maximum 0.2m.
Authorised for publication on 1:2500 overhaul as :Hut Circles[OE].

National Monuments Record, 1977, SX5276/5, 202 (Aerial Photograph). SDV226886.

Photograph taken on 20th May 1977.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX57NW45, OS survey drawing (c.1980?)1:2500, in parish file. (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV226728.

(17/11/1980) On the west slope of Cox Tor, at 321m. OD are the remains of two contiguous hut circles within a small oval enclosure. The huts are of Type 1 (SX 56 SE 19) and have level interiors with diameters of 4.4m. and walling 1.4m. wide and 0.3m. high. The western-most hut has a north-west entrance.
The huts lie within a fragmentary field system (SX 57 NW 96).
Surveyed at 1:10 000 and at 1:2500 for AO records.

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

Large oval enclosure visible on south-west slope of Cox Tor. Overlain by modern road intersection. Attached to remains of reave system to north and on east side. Three hut circles within enclosure. One frestanding. Two attached to each other, and two to interior wall of enclosure by length of internal walling. The undulations of the eastern enclosure wall may suggest agglomeration. Further walling to north at SX 52467588 may be part of reave system SX57NW/107, but the undulations may suggest another part of the enclosure.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(08/07/1991) The remains of two hut circles lie at 321m OD, approximately 650m SW of Cox Tor. The northern hut is 6.8m in overall diameter, with the turf covered stony bank 2.5m in width and 0.5m high. Some edge set slabs are visible on the W side. There are two breaks in the bank; one on the W and one on the S. The latter 1.2m wide seems to be the original entrance. To its immediate S are the conjoined remains of a second hut circle or annex. These remains are slight and are confused on the S side where they form a curvilinear bank which encloses the S and E sides of the hut.
The huts lie in the N part of an irregular and rather ragged enclosure which measures 64m by 54m; it is now cut by a wide track. The enclosure probably post-dates the parallel reave system (SX 57 NW 106) as it apparently abutts the linear reave which forms its S side. Its E side which clearly truncates another reave is visible as an 0.5m high lynchet.
See RCHME Cox Tor Survey (1:2500 scale)

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 84, Map 31, Site 2 (Monograph). SDV219155.

A homestead built against the north side of the reave. An outer enclosure wall, bisected by a track contains a hut at the centre closely surrounded by an outer ring of slabs.

Cartographic Engineering, 2006, Dartmoor 2006 1:1250 Aerial Photography (digital) (Aerial Photograph). SDV345590.

Roughly oval enclosure visible on aerial photograph.

Historic England, 2021-2022, NRHE to HER website (Website). SDV364039.

Ordnance Survey, 2022, Mastermap 2022 (Cartographic). SDV364674.

'Hut Circles' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1020002 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

The monument includes a stone hut circle settlement with an associated enclosure and fields situated on a gentle west facing slope of Cox Tor overlooking much of West Devon and East Cornwall. The stone hut circle settlement includes three stone hut circles, which survive as rubble banks each surrounding a circular internal area which varies from 15.9 square metres to 19.6 square metres. The surrounding walls measure up to 0.6 metres high and one has a visible doorway. The enclosure survives as a 64 metres long by 54 metres wide irregular shaped area denoted by a 2 metres wide rubble bank standing up to 0.5 metres high. Two of the stone hut circles lie within this enclosure which is clearly of a different date to the adjacent fields which form part of the coaxial field system on Whitchurch Common.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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