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Summary

On a west-facing slope of Harford Moor there is an open settlement of eight hut circles and a small enclosure measuring 35.0m x 25.0m which contains one of the huts. The enclosure wall has an average width of 1.2m and a height of 0.3m and is in very ruinous condition. The eight huts are similar in size, their average internal diameter being 7.0m (the largest is 7.5m, the smallest 6.2m) and their average thickness of walling 1.6m.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1004574: Hut circles and enclosure to S of Left Lake

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66SW42
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442300
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66SW/14
• Old SAM County Ref: 812

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Royal Air Force, RAF/3G/TUD/UK/223, 5128-9 (Aerial Photograph). SDV165975.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1977, SX66SW42 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV165972.

(1950) Enclosure and hut circles to the south of Left Lake. A small enclosure and eight hut circles.
(16/12/1977) On a west-facing slope of Harford Moor at approximately 355.0m OD there is an open settlement of eight hut circles and a small enclosure measuring 35.0m x 25.0m which contains one of the huts. The enclosure wall has an average width of 1.2m and a height of 0.3m and is in very ruinous condition. The eight huts are similar in size, their average internal diameter being 7.0m (the largest is 7.5m, the smallest 6.2m) and their average thickness of walling 1.6m.
Six of the huts are clearly Type 2 and the other two are of indeterminate type. Five have entrances on the south. One or two huts are in reasonable condition but most are ruinous. There is no evidence of clearance in the area. (Type 2 huts: SX 56 NE 71).
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD.

National Monuments Record, 1969, NMR SX6463, 3 (Aerial Photograph). SDV165976.

Hankin, C. F., 1976 - 1977, Settlement south of Left Lake (Worksheet). SDV165974.

A small circular enclosure set amidst a group of eight hut circles. The line of the wall is no more than one stone high, but can be seen all round. Interior is clear of stones. Sited approximately 60.0 meters south of a gully known as Left Lake on very rocky ground.

Robinson, R., 1982, Field Monument Warden Visit (Worksheet). SDV165973.

Department of Environment Field Monument Warden visit.

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

Nine hut circles are visible: three are attached in a group, four are freestanding and two are incorporated into the wall of what appears to be a small ovoid enclosure.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, 53, Map 54, Figure 54.13 (Monograph). SDV337765.

A compact group of eight hut circles and an enclosure located along the contour to the south of Left Lake. Most huts are in a good condition, often with internal divisions and several are connected by sections of curved walling. The enclosure is less well-preserved.

Gerrard, S., 2004, List of Sites Remaining to be Considered for Designation on Dartmoor (Un-published). SDV345444.

This site was considered for designation as a Scheduled Ancient Monument during the Monument Protection Programme. The programme ended before the entire list of sites was successfully scheduled so this is included on a local list of Nationally Important Sites.

Newman, P., 2018, Erme Valley Survey data (GIS and Excel spreadsheet) (Cartographic). SDV361913.

Enclosure and hut cricles shown with several curved sections of walling.

Newman, P., 2018, The Upper Erme Valley, Dartmoor National Park, Devon: An Archaeological Survey, Appendix 1 (Report - Survey). SDV362921.

A prehistoric settlement of seven large ruined hut circles and vestiges of enclosures on the moderate eastern slope of the River Erme, south of Left Lake. Six of the hut circles sit in an approximate north to south alignment on the 355 metre contour. The huts are robustly constructed, levelled into the slope, with internal diameters between approximately 6.5 and 8.7 metres, and most have evidence of both their inner and outer wall faces surviving in part. Although now degraded and spread, the walls were once up to 1.5 metres thick. Four of the circles have visible entrance openings on the southern arc of the circle. Evidence for post-abandonment interventions are apparent in four of the huts, built into their interiors, including two small post-prehistoric rectangular shelters (of 2.8 metres by 5.3 metres and 3 metres by 2.5 metres) of unknown date and one hut circle of 3.5 metres, potentially prehistoric. One of the huts has a sub-rectangular enclosure of approximately 19 metres by 19 metres attached to its western side. A further hut circle, surviving only as a crescent stony bank is attached to the western corner of this enclosure. Vestiges of incomplete enclosures survive to the north-east and south-west of the hut group, though these are all less well built than the hut circles.

Historic England, 2019, National Heritage List for England, 1004574 (National Heritage List for England). SDV362730.

This monument includes an unenclosed stone hut circle settlement with a single enclosure and several additional boundary banks situated on the western slopes of Harford Moor overlooking the valleys of the River Erme and Left Lake. The settlement survives as a series of eight stone hut circles, a single oval enclosure and several lengths of boundary bank. The enclosure wall is up to 1.2 metres wide and approximately 0.3 metres high and connects two of the stone hut circles, the other boundary banks are similarly preserved and the two longest form curving arcs to the north east and south west of the settlement. The stone hut circles are defined by substantial either orthostatic faced or coursed walls measuring up to 3 metres wide and 2 metres high and range in size internally from 6.2 metres to 7.5 metres in diameter. Several huts are linked by boundary banks, four have internal curving partition walls and where visible the entrances face south.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8082 - Survey of the Upper Erme Valley

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