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Summary

Enclosure north of Harrowthorn Plantation of 180 metres by 130 metres with walls 2 metres wide by up to 1 metre high containing 19 hut circles terraced into the slope

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1012739: Enclosure with hut circles north of Harrowthorn Plantation

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66SW25
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442237
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66SW/83
• Old SAM County Ref: 846
• Old SAM Ref: 10507

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

'Hut circles' shown on 19th century map with an enclosure and 19 hut circles. An extension to the enclosure is shown to the south-east

Royal Air Force, 1948, RAF/CPE/UK/2494, 3052-3 (Aerial Photograph). SDV147533.

Visible.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1977, SX66SW25 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV156966.

(31/03/1950) Settlement; pounds and hut circles north of Harrowthorn Plantation. The hut circles are correct as shown on map but enclosures are very fragmentary.
(01/08/1977) SX 62296245 An enclosed settlement oval on plan measuring 180m
north-south by 130m transversely and 2.7ha, lies on a moderate, well drained, southwest facing slope at 305m above OD. The double-faced orthostatic wall is, on average, 1.7m wide and in poor condition, with some sections wholly destroyed. The interior is strewn with boulders, as is the surrounding hillside and in particular the area to the southeast of the enclosure. On the OS 6" this has been erroneously depicted as an addition to the enclosure. A dry stream bed bisects the enclosure.
The remains of 20 hut circles all terraced and 8 having entrances in the south quadrant, can be identified within the enclosure. Thirteen huts are Type 2, averaging 6.0m in internal diameter with orthostatic walling, average width 1.4m. Their condition ranges from fair to fragmentary. Three of the huts are built on the line of, and predate, the enclosure and two form a contiguous pair.
The remaining 7 hut circles, average internal diameter 4.8m, have type 1, small boulder walling, mostly in very poor condition of which two are built against the inner face of the enclosure wall and two form a contiguous pair.
There is no evidence of cultivation within, or adjacent to the enclosure.
(Type 2 huts: SX 56 NE 71) 1:10 000 Survey revised on MSD.

National Monuments Record, 1977, SX6262, 3 (Aerial Photograph). SDV156968.

Photograph taken on 14th April 1977.

Robinson, R., 1984, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1984 (Un-published). SDV343082.

Visited on 30th June 1984.

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

Enclosure visible on aerial photographs containing 22 huts, three of them incorporated into walls.

Butler, J., 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three - The South-West, 187-8, Map 52, Figure 52.10 (Monograph). SDV137656.

'Coombe Brook' settlement to the north of Harrowthorn Plantation with an enclosure covering 1.6 hectares with walls 2.0 metres wide and up to 0.6 metres high It contains 21 hut circles mostly in the north-west corner of the enclosure.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 2015-2017, 2015-2017 Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV361462.

Visible on aerial photograph.

Ordnance Survey, 2021, MasterMap 2021 (Cartographic). SDV364015.

'Settlement' including an enclosure and hut circles shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1012739 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

Enclosure north of Harrowthorn Plantation lies on the west slope of Stalldown and contains 19 hut circles terraced into the slope, it is bisected by a stream which would have provided a convenient supply of essential fresh water. The enclosure is 180 metres by 130 metres., its wall is up to a metre high and 2 metres wide, it is faced with orthostats and includes large boulders as well as smaller stones. The hut walls remain to a height of three courses of stone up to 0.7 metres high and 3 metres thick with hut diameters of up to 12 metres.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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