See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

An unenclosed settlement and associated field system on Smeardon Down. This prominent high ground, a westward projecting dolerite hillspur in the metamorphic aureole surrounding the central western extremity of the Dartmoor granite, reaches a summit of 334m OD at SX 5229 7814. It extends about 1km E-W by 500m (some 40 ha in area), and is entirely surrounded by modern intake, predominantly pasture farmland. The vegetation is primarily rough grass, closely cropped by grazing sheep; bracken with occasional scrub and gorse is scattered around the lower southern slopes. Across the spine of the spur there are rocky dolerite outcrops extending to Boulters Tor in the extreme east. Areas of clitter (scree weathered from the tors) occur across the slopes beneath the outcrops.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthworks of a prehistoric settlement on Smeardon Down comprising hut circles, enclosure and field system

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX57NW103
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 440008
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX57NW/89/1

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FIELD SYSTEM (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1975, OS/75/369, 172 (Aerial Photograph). SDV254607.

A series of fields are visible on Smeardon Down (SX 520780) on the Ordnance Survey air photographs.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX57NW103 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV346367.

(14/10/1980) A field system, centred at SX 52107813 extends over about 16.5 hectares of Smeardon Down with a spinal E to W bank linking rock outcrops along the summit.
From the top, fields can be traced for 100 to 150m. down the S side, though dense bracken precludes a comprehensive assessment, and a similar distance down the N side. Here it is quite evident that it formerly extended much further, for a few denuded banks and lynchets occur within the enclosed agricultural area for at least another 150m.
The fields are mainly rectilinear so far as surface irregularities allow and vary between 0.35 and 0.7ha. with occasional sub divisions down to 0.15ha.
The walls are invariably of loosely piled stones 1.3m. wide and 0.2m. to 0.3m. high; on the slopes most have developed into lynchets.
So far as can be seen settlement associated with the system is a few widely spaced huts (SX 57 NW 72, 73 etc)
Area delineated on Field Sheet.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(12/07/1991) An unenclosed settlement and associated field system on Smeardon Down. This prominent high ground, a westward projecting dolerite hillspur in the metamorphic aureole surrounding the central western extremity of the Dartmoor granite, reaches a summit of 334m OD at SX 5229 7814. It extends about 1km E-W by 500m (some 40 ha in area), and is entirely surrounded by modern intake, predominantly pasture farmland. The vegetation is primarily rough grass, closely cropped by grazing sheep; bracken with occasional scrub and gorse is scattered around the lower southern slopes. Across the spine of the spur there are rocky dolerite outcrops extending to Boulters Tor in the extreme east. Areas of clitter (scree weathered from the tors) occur across the slopes beneath the outcrops.
FIELD SYSTEM.
The field system is formed by a series of roughly parallel cross contour walls. They run principally north-south and are divided into rectangular fields by three or four transverse walls. These walls are mainly evident as turf-covered rubble banks, about 1.3m wide but are often spread to over 3m. They vary in height from almost ground level to 1m or more but average about 0.3m high. Some fade into the turf and peat but are quite obviously continuous features. On the slopes many have collapsed into stony lynchets. Some of the walls are attached to hut circles and small enclosures, and they also utilise the outcropping tors and clitter. The fields thus formed are mainly rectilinear but their size and shape depend primarily on the topography. They vary from small irregular plots about 0.1 ha in area (at SX 5204 7798), to large rectangular enclosures about 0.8 ha in area (at SX 5221 7817). At SX 5188 7813 and SX 5208 7795 are two narrow tracks to, or between, fields which are almost identical to modern tracks at SX 5293 7803 and SX 5262 7775, (not on this plan).
Scattered across the system are several, proabaly contemporary, stone clearance heaps averaging about 3m in diameter and 0.4m high. Some have been built onto the walls and lynchets, several cluster around the south of hut 13, and there is a larger heap at SX 5231 7807. One large stony mound at SX 5221 7820, its centre robbed, appears to overlie an E-W lynchet, which here is a turf-covered rubble scarp. It is about 9.8m in diameter, 0.4m high on the uphill side and 1.5m around the lower norther side. Though it does not have a true kerb there are a few prominent stones around the periphery and it appears to have a degree of formality not usually associated with clearance heaps. It is in a prominent situation and may possibly be a sepulchral cairn similar to that 100m to the south-east (SX 57 NW 73).
See RCHME Smeardon Down plan (1/2500 scale).
A table of further information on the settlement is held in the archive.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.