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Summary

11 stone hut circles and a sub circular enclosure situated on the south east facing slope overlooking the valley of the Ford Brook.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1015428: Enclosure and stone hut circles 600m ESE of Penn Beacon, forming part of a stone hut circle settlement
• Scheduled Monument 1008643: Enclosure and stone hut circle 740m south east of Penn Beacon, forming part of a stone hut circle settlement
• Scheduled Monument 1013175: One of several stone hut circles west of High-house Waste
• Scheduled Monument 1008644: Enclosure 560m south east of Penn Beacon, forming part of a stone hut circle settlement

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66SW39
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442287
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66SW/100
• Old SAM County Ref: 444
• Old SAM Ref: 20492(P)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Dick, A. M., Settlement west of Ford Brook (Report - Survey). SDV156240.

Scheduled document of 1960 stated 'scattered settlement of at least 12 circular huts, some of them being very large. Possibly romano-british as opposed to the bronze age/iron age settlements nearby. Later rectangular house on south edge of area. Moorland'
Scheduled in 1960 as SAM 444. Revised in 1992 under schedules SAM 10772-10779and 10781 includes enclosure and 8 hut circles the remaining 4 hut circles cited by ancient monuments in 1960 have been effectively descheduled.
The 1993 revision of the 1992 schedule appears to reinstate the 4 descheduled hut circles.

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

Twelve 'Hut Circles' and one enclosure shown on 19th century map.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950/1977, SX66SW39 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV156241.

(14/08/1977) An open settlement; consists of 8 freestanding hut circles and an enclosure and lies on a gentle, well drained, clitter strewn east facing slope at 355m above OD.
SX 60526271 This oval enclosure, 60m by 50m and 0.3 ha, has double-faced walling, 1.5m wide and up to 0.5m high, and is in very poor condition, the lower side being entirely missing. Two terraced hut circles, average internal diameter 6.2m, are on the line of the enclosure wall which may be later. One has fragments of walling, 1.3m wide, and the other only survives as a terrace.
The 8 Type 2 hut circles, average internal diameter 6.3m, walling 1.4m wide and in very poor condition are, with one exception, terraced into the hill side and four have southeast facing entrances.
There is no evidence of cultivation in the area. (Type 2 huts : SX 56 NE 71).
1:10 000 Survey revised on MSD.

National Monuments Record, 1976, SX6062, 1 (Aerial Photograph). SDV142425.

Photograph taken on 8th April 1976.

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

Eleven freestanding hut circles are visible on aerial photograph on open ground.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset. (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Visited on 6th May 1993.

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

Enclosure and hut circles visible on aerial photograph.

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

Enclosure and ten hut circles shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1015428, 1013175, 1008643 & 1008644 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

This monument includes 11 stone hut circles and a sub-circular enclosure situated on a south east facing slope overlooking the valley of the Ford Brook. The interior of the enclosure measures 60 metres long by 55 metres wide and is defined by a double faced 3 metres wide and 0.5 metres high rubble wall. An entrance survives as a gap in the surrounding wall and faces north east. Two stone hut circles are built across the northern line of the enclosure boundary wall. The eastern hut survives as a 5 metres diameter and 0.4 metres deep circular hollow terraced into the hillslope. The western hut includes a faced stone and earth wall 2 metres wide and 0.6 metres high surrounding the interior which measures 6.3 metres in diameter. The remaining huts lie outside the enclosure. One hut lies north of the enclosure and survives as a bank of stone and earth 1 metre wide and 0.8 metres high surrounding a 5 metres diameter circular internal area. The other eight huts are clustered together in the area south west of the enclosure and their internal diameters vary between 4 metres and 7.3 metres with the average being 5.61 metres. The height of the surrounding walls varies between 0.4 metres and 1.2 metres with the average being 0.81 metres. Six of the huts have visible doorways. Stone hut circles and enclosures lying to the north west, south west and south east are the subject of seperate schedulings under Numbers 1013175, 1008643 and 1008644.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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