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Summary

Settlement of fifteen hut circles and a length of enclosure wall, forming the largest part of a settlement situated on the west facing slope of Arms Tor. The six northern stone hut circles are linked together by a 1.7 metre wide and 0.4 metre high curved enclosure boundary wall which defines the northern and western sides of an enclosure, whilst the southern and eastern parts were either never completed or survive as a buried feature. This boundary wall is later than the huts and provides evidence of development within the settlement. Also a parish boundary stone and stone-splitting pits in the southern part of the settlement. Two outlying huts are located to the south and south-west of the main group (MDV4636-37).

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1008638: Hut circles and a length of enclosure wall, forming part of a stone hut circle settlement 600m east of Nodden Gate

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX58NW15
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 440553
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX58NW/9
• Old SAM County Ref: 18
• Old SAM Ref: 24075

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

'Hut circles' shown on 19th century map.

Worth, R. N., 1895, The Stone Rows of Dartmoor: Part 4, 437-438 (Article in Serial). SDV273221.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX58NW15, SX58NW15 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV249072.

(23/10/1950) Hut circles on the West Face of Arms Tor. Group of 11 hut circles named A-K, which appear to be of both single and double walled types and are for the majority in a ruinous condition. The immediate locality is strewn with granite boulders for a wide area and it is possible that remains of other hut circles have been overlooked. East of Nodden Gate. Some of the hut circles retain door jambs. There are also remains of other circles of detached stones of a more ritual aspect. Stones are irregular in size. In line with a menhir standing in one of the circles, down the hill to the north-west, are scattered upright stones, perhaps part of a row.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1974, SX58NW15, SX58NW15 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV236238.

(15/10/1974) The remains of a BA settlement and vestiges of its associated field system of approximately 8 hectares (centred: SX 53548623) are situated on a west hillslope.
Sixteen hut circles were identified but they were in a poor condition, and more hut sites may exist in the area.
The circles, comprising ten single walled and six double walled types, are from 6.0m to 8.0m in diameter with robbed walls averaging 0.5m high. The few traceable entrance gaps are on the west (downhill) sides.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.

Robinson, R., 1986, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1986 (Un-published). SDV345664.

Visited

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

(26/04/1993) See related records for details.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 218, Map 43, Site '3' (Monograph). SDV219155.

Settlement '3' to the west of Arms Tor and to the west of the River Lyd with at least ten hut circles of 5 to 7 metres diameter. Short lines of stones attached to some of the huts reveal the former presence of enclosures.

Environment Agency WMS, 1998-2016, LiDAR DSM data JPEG image (1m resolution) (Cartographic). SDV360209.

Boundary wall is visible on the lidar data.

Bray, L. + Crabb, A., 2017, HER Field Updates (Cartographic). SDV361914.

Thirteen huts located in 2017 and plotted using GPS.

Bray, L., 2017, Site Condition Assessment: MDV4633 (Worksheet). SDV361927.

Site visited 23/11/17 and condition assessed as moderate; vegetation encroachment of bracken over more than 40% of site recorded.

Historic England, 2018, National Heritage List for England, 108638 (National Heritage List for England). SDV360653.

This monument includes 15 stone hut circles, a length of enclosure wall, a parish boundary stone and stone-splitting pits forming the largest part of a settlement situated on the west facing slope of Arms Tor overlooking the valley of the River Lyd. The six northern stone hut circles are linked together by a 1.7 metres wide and 0.4 metres high curved enclosure boundary wall which defines the northern and western sides of an enclosure, whilst the southern and eastern parts were either never completed or survive as a buried feature. This boundary wall is later than the huts which it links and provides important evidence of development within the settlement. All the stone hut circles within the monument survive as stone and earth banks surrounding a circular internal area. The internal diameters of these huts vary between 4.2 metres and 6.3 metres with the average being 5.61 metres. The height of the surrounding walls varies between 0.3 metres and 1.35 metres with the average being 0.7 metres. Six of the huts are linked to the enclosure boundary wall, one has a visible doorway, two include more than a single room and one has a partition. Two features of post-medieval date are included within this monument. The first is a roughly dressed granite pillar, measuring 1.5 metres high by 0.6 metres wide and 0.4 metres thick. This stone denotes the boundary between the commons shared by Bridestowe and Sourton and the parish of Lydford. The second feature includes a large number of stone-splitting pits which vary in size, but average 2.5 metres in diameter and 0.4 metres deep. These pits were produced during the search for, and limited quarrying of, surface stone.

Ordnance Survey, 2023, Mastermap 2023 (Cartographic). SDV365227.

'Hut Circles' shown on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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