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Summary

Hut settlement 540 metres north-east of White Hill consisting of a cluster of seven or eight, hut circles of 4.5 metres to 7.3 metres diameter with a field boundary to the north

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1007662: Stone hut circle settlement 580m north east of White Hill summit

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX58SW36
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 440746
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX58SW/74/5
• Old SAM Ref: 22350

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/2082, 3489-90 (Aerial Photograph). SDV221887.

Cropmark of probable hut-circle at SX 53838421.
This cropmark represents the marshy hollow of a bomb/shell explosion [OS recorder, 13/08/1979].

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 130975 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

visited on 20th April 1993. Length of boundary wall situated at the foot of a long w-facing slope descending from hare tor and overlooking the valley of the Walla Brook. This sinuous length of rubble walling measuring 100 metres long lying in the area immediately to the north of 5 stone hut circles may represent the visible part of a more extensive field system to which the huts were attached. This wall is lyncheted along its entire length and survives as a 1.4 metres wide and 0.4 metres high rubble bank. The location and the alignment of this boundary suggests that it is contemporary with the huts.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 104, Map 32, Site 11 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Settlement at 'Hare Tor West' with five huts of 5.0 metres to 7.5 metres diameter lying close together which have experienced considerable damage. A few stones in line are all that survive of surrounding enclosure walls.

Probert, S. + Fletcher, M. + Newman, P., 1998, Willsworthy Training Area, Peter Tavy, Devon: An Archaeological survey by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (Report - Survey). SDV350638.

(04/08/1998) Centred SX 53888421. A cluster of seven, possibly eight, hut circles lie on the crest of the broad ridge crest running E from White Hill. The huts, tabulated below, are well-preserved though overgrown with heather. All have level interiors in the range 4.5m to 7.3m and there are some large boulders in the walls; no entrances are apparent. There is no surface evidence to suggest the presence of any enclosures or field walls associated with these huts.
Hut details:
SX5387484191 Hut diameter (internal) measures 5.35m, with wall 2.3m wide, 0.5m high.
SX5384784174 Hut diameter (internal) measures 7.3m, with wall 1.9m wide, 0.3m high.
SX5390784213 Hut diameter (internal) measures 7.15m, with wall 1.8m wide, 0.3m high.
SX5395484202 Hut diameter (internal) measures 5.65m, with wall 2.0m wide, 0.3m high. Inner wall visible E side.
SX5385984232 Hut diameter (internal) measures 4.5m. Robbed circle.
SX5388384242 Hut diameter (internal) measures 6.5m, with wall 0.5m high. Poorly defined.
SX5383684205 Hut diameter (internal) measures 5.1m, with wall 2.5m wide, 0.4m high.
SX5383484246 Hut diameter (internal) measures 6.3m. Circular depression.
The huts are built of sandstone, shales with some granite boulders and they are covered by deep heather moorland.
The hut circles described by record SX 58 SW 59 form part of this group and have been included in this report.

Probert, S., 2001, Willsworthy Training Area, Peter Tavy, Devon. Integrated Land Management Plan Implementation: Archaeological Condition Baseline Survey Appendices 2-5 (Report - Survey). SDV357727.

(20/12/2000) No change to the information, the huts lie under heather cover and are undisturbed.

Historic England, 2023, National Heritage List for England, 1007662 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365228.

This monument includes five stone hut circles and a length of boundary wall situated at the foot of a long west-facing slope descending from Hare Tor and overlooking the valley of the Walla Brook. The huts are composed of stone and earth banks each surrounding an internal area. Four of the huts are circular in plan, and their internal diameters vary between 4.2 metres and 7 metres. The remaining hut is oval in shape, its interior measures 6 metres long by 5 metres wide and the surrounding wall is 2 metres wide and 0.4 metres high. The average height of the hut walls is 0.46 metres. One hut has a visible doorway and two have slight hollows within their interiors which suggest partial early excavation, robbing or modern military reuse. The linear distribution of the stone hut circles strongly suggests that they may have once been linked by a palisade or similar structure which may now partly survive as a buried feature. A sinuous length of rubble walling measuring 100 metres long lying in the area immediately to the north of the stone hut circles may represent a visible part of this original linking wall. This wall is lyncheted along its entire length and survives as a 1.4 metres wide and 0.4 metres high rubble bank. The location and the alignment of this boundary suggests that it is contemporary with the huts.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7368 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area, Peter Tavy (1998)
• EDV6663 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area
• EDV6664 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area
• EDV6665 - Survey of the Willsworthy Training Area
• EDV8141 - Condition survey of the Willsworthy Training Area

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