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Summary

Ford Waste a deserted Medieval site with at least two longhouses and associated building and enclosure / pound. Remains of rubble-built stone walls are grassed-over. Some bracken and gorse over the site.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1002627: Medieval settlement on Ford Waste
• SHINE: Earthworks and walling of probable medieval field system incorporating Ford Barn and Ford Waste deserted medieval settlements and also several Bronze Age enclosures and hut circles to east of Rook Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66SW63
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442359
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66SW/79
• Old SAM County Ref: 898

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• DESERTED SETTLEMENT (Constructed, Medieval - 1066 AD (Between) to 1539 AD (Between))
• FARMSTEAD (Constructed, Medieval - 1066 AD (Between) to 1539 AD (Between))

Full description

Gover, J. E. B. + Mawer, A. + Stenton, F. M., 1931, The Place-Names of Devon: Part One, 271 (Monograph). SDV1312.

The name 'Ford' (either this or Ford Barn, MDV4339) is recorded in lay Subsidy Roll 1330.

Royal Air Force, 1946 - 1949, Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV342938.

Site well visible on the 1940s aerial photographs (less so on more modern images). Three buildings visible and the enclosure/pound at the south-west corner of the site.

Royal Air Force, 1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2494, 3055-56 (Aerial Photograph). SDV147533.

Visible on the aerial photograph.

Royal Air Force, 1953, 58/1110, 0052 (Aerial Photograph). SDV157241.

Linehan, C. D., 1965, Deserted Sites on Dartmoor, Devon, 172 (Article in Serial). SDV217992.

Ford Waste, longhouse, and parts of two others with crofts and enclosures. Varying in length from 12.8 metres to 11.0 metres and width 5.5 metres to 4.5 metres.

Linehan, C. D., 1966, Deserted Sites and Rabbit-Warrens on Dartmoor, Devon, 113-115, table 2, figs. 56, 57b (Article in Serial). SDV307246.

(SX 60756156) Ford Waste deserted site lies in the north part of the enclosures of that name, close to the 'corn-ditch' which divides them from the open Penn Moor. There are two long-houses with a room at the upper end, one of which is over 70 feet long, a small building lies at the east end of the enclosures immediately surrounding the homestead. No documentary evidence has been found for this site, which could perhaps, have been an off-shoot from the Ford Barn settlement (SX 66 SW64). Ford is mentioned in 1330.

Haynes, R. G., 1966-1969, Ruined Sites on Dartmoor, 37 (Un-published). SDV150434.

Visited 30/3/1966. Ford Waste (SX607616) Within modern enclosures east of East Rook Gate. A two room long house with small outhouse and corrals. All completely grassed over. Connected to ancient field systems within modern newtake.

English Heritage, 1969-1989, English Heritage Records Office SAM Record, Site number: 35464 (DV 898) (Un-published). SDV349864.

Deserted medieval settlement site consisting of three longhouses (12.8 by 5.5 metres, 11 by 3.7 metres and 11 by 4.6 metres) within an enclosure. The turf covered drystone walls stand to a maximum of 0.9 metres high. (1971)
The site lies in an area of close turf with dense bracken in season, not under plough and sloping gently to the south. It comprises the remains of three rectangular buildings, two of them classic longhouses and a sub-rectangular enclosure attached to one.
A) Against the east wall of field, orientated north-south. Walls low and turf-covered. ? metres wide and 0.4 – 0.7 metres high. No surviving wall faces and no clearance. External dimensions 8 by 5.5 metres. South wall unclear. Within the walls is a small modern timber shepherd’s hut, secured by wires over the roof and pegged into the ground.
B) Interior below the ground level. Orientated north-west by south-east, overall internal dimensions 17 by 3.5 metres. The upper or north-west room, separated by a cross wall, is 3 metres long and at a slightly higher level. All walls of rubble stone, largely turf-covered, about 1.5 metres wide and 1.0 metre high. Entrance halfway along the south-west side of lower room. Two young oaks are growing within walls and there is some gorse on the banks.
C) Rectangular building against west wall of site, badly damaged by cart track across southern end. Upper end 1.5 metres below ground level. Internal dimensions 19 metres by 5 metres. Walls are irregular turf-covered low banks, indefinite on the eastern side. No signs of cross wall: entrances may be where [present track crosses. A small modern shelter consisting of two side walls, now ruinous, has been built against the west wall.

The sub-rectangular enclosure immediately south of C measures 11.5 metres north-south and 15 metres east-west. Walling is of small stones, part turf-covered, and medieval in appearance, although the Ordnance Survey (1979) suggest to could be a re-used prehistoric pound. (1983)
Wooden hut has been removed from interior of building A leaving a bare area where it stood and the loose breeze blocks on which it was placed to keep it off the ground. Otherwise the site is unchanged. The field is still unreclaimed, with much bracken and gorse. (1984)
Undisturbed. No cattle erosion nearby. (1985)
A deeply rutted tractor path (possibly a single incident) crosses the north end of the site between the gates on the east and west. This does not affect any of the buildings. Rest of the site is undisturbed. (1987)
Undisturbed. (1988)

Hall, J. + Hamlin, A., 1976, Deserted Medieval Settlements in Devon, 5 (Article in Serial). SDV38836.

As Linehan.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX6SW63, Plan included (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV155407.

(14/07/1979) The settlement is under dense bracken. Longhouse 'A' is the best preserved with turf-covered rubble walling 0.6 metres wide and up to 0.6 metres high. 'B', cut back into the north slope to a depth of 1.5 metres is in poor condition. Only the east side is traceable as tumbled rubble 1.0 metres wide and 0.5 metres high, with a wide gap for a modern cart track. 'C' is an outbuilding with foundations 0.3 metres high.
The 'croft' is more like a pound with the appearance of being rebuilt. It is sub-circular (not as in the published plan), with well finished walling 2.5 metres thick and 1.3 metres high and an entrance gap on the north-west. The construction is that of a modern Devon 'hedge-bank' but the internal diameter of 7.7 metres and the plan suggests that a hut circle may have been utilised as a basis for the structure. Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD.

Robinson, R., 1983, List of Field Monument Warden Visits (Site Visit). SDV114314.

Visited 2/2/1983.

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

Small settlement visible on aerial photographs in a field system with ridge and furrow.

Griffiths, D. M., 1986, Ford Waste Deserted Medieval Settlement (Worksheet). SDV155412.

The site consists of two longhouses and, on the eastern side, a small rectangular building. A corn ditch divides the settlement from the open moor (see related records for detail).

White, P., 2013, Previously Unsurveyed Dartmoor Historic Farmsteads, Ford Waste (Un-published). SDV352501.

Ford Waste a deserted longhouse settlement.

Ordnance Survey, 2014, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV355681.

Outline of the site depicted on the modern mapping with remains of the western building shown.

English Heritage, 2014, National Heritage List for England, 1002627 (National Heritage List for England). SDV355683.

No detail online for this site.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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