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Summary

A settlement enclosure measuring 80 metres by 75 metres and 0.5 hectares. The wall, about 2 to 2.5m wide, is lynchetted on the uphill side and very poorly preserved in the south east. It is constructed of small boulders as is a fragmentary secondary wall, 1.2m wide, which divides the enclosure. The upper part contains a probable hut circle of internal diameter 6.5m, the walls 2.0m wide and in poor condition with a south facing entrance. Nationally important site.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Walling remains of Bronze Age settlement comprising an enclosure with associated hut circles north of Snowdon Hole, Buckfastleigh Moor

Other References/Statuses

• Dartmoor Non-designated Heritage Asset (Evidential): NI Site
• National Monuments Record: SX66NE4
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 441360
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66NE/32
• Pastscape: 441360

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX66NE4, Enclosure b, sketch plan (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV146357.

(21/10/1950) Centred at SX 6751 6865. Hut circle A within enclosure B and hut circle C outside and wall fragments D-G (see related records).
Enclosure B consists of almost completely turf and bracken-covered bank with only a few stones showing. It averages 2.5 metres in width and 0.5 metres in height. The bank or wall finishes abruptly to the north-east at spot marked 'x' (SX 6750 6868) on the sketch plan against a large, apparently naturally sited boulder. The last few metres before its termination at 'z' (SX 6750 6865). It is only traceable by occasional rocks and a difference in the colour of the turf.
The general condition of the enclosure is fairly good.
It seems possible that hut circle C and walls D-G may represent remains of earlier settlement which have been extensively robbed in construction of main features a and b. Whole area has dense covering of bracken, heather and whortleberries and it is difficult to ensure that all main features are found under the vegetation.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX66NE4 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV146371.

(26/06/1977) At SX 67556867 a settlement enclosure, 80 metres by 75 metres and covering 0.5 hectares lies on a moderate, clitter free, well drained, east facing slope, just above the river cliff, at 365 metres above OD. The wall, about 2 to 2.5m wide, is lynchetted on the uphill side and very poorly preserved in the south east. It is constructed of small boulders as is a fragmentary secondary wall, 1.2m wide, which divides the enclosure. The upper western part contains a probable type I hut circle, internal diameter 6.5 metres, the walls 2.0 metres wide and in poor condition with a south facing entrance.
There are unintelligible lengths of walling adjoining the enclosure and outside the upper part. There is no visible evidence of cultivation within or adjacent to the enclosure.
1:10 000 Survey revised on PFD.

National Monuments Record, 1979, NMR SF1457, 426 (Aerial Photograph). SDV172921.

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

Big sub-rectangular enclosure with internal partition and hut circle - this does not tally with 1950 Ordnance Survey card / plan which omits part of the south-eastern wall of the enclosure.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, 168, Map 58, figure 58.5 (Monograph). SDV337765.

'Mardle Ring' on the southern bank of the River Mardle is well preserved with a complete circuit. One breach in the south may be original as it faces the entrance to the single hut circle. The boundary wall covered by turf and bracken is best preserved near the hut where it has spread to 2.5 metres wide and remains up to 0.5 metres high. An interior wall crosses the rather irregularly shaped plot subdividing the interior into unequal portions with the hut confined within the western portion. Outside, a thinner walled extension was added to the north-west but a long section of its perimeter was either never completed or has been demolished. Several sections of bank exist to the south and west of the enclosure.

Gerrard, S., 2004, List of Sites Remaining to be Considered for Designation on Dartmoor (Un-published). SDV345444.

This site was considered for designation as a Scheduled Ancient Monument during the Monument Protection Programme. The programme ended before the entire list of sites was successfully scheduled so this is included on a local list of Nationally Important Sites.

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

Visible on aerial photograph.

Environment Agency WMS, 2019, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution), 2019 (Cartographic). SDV362956.

Visible on Lidar data.

Ordnance Survey, 2020, MasterMap 2020 (Cartographic). SDV363413.

'Homestead' shown on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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