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Summary

A three-sided enclosure measuring 45m northwest-southeast by 35m transversely. The wall is uniformly 1.8m thick and up to a maximum of 1.0m in height; it is double-faced with orthostats. On the south side of the interior is a small rectangular structure built on to the main enclosure wall; its wall, consisting of roughly-heaped boulders, is 1.0m thick and 0.8m in height. The main structure is evidently prehistoric but the rectangular building could be of Medieval or later origin.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1004557: Enclosures and hut circles at Petre's Pits Bottom
• SHINE: Walling remains of a Bronze Age enclosure with integral hut circle on Old Hill, adjacent to Middle Brook

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX66SE37
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 441876
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX66SE/81
• Old SAM County Ref: 1015A

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

'U' shaped feature shown on 19th century map with a square building on the south side.

Royal Air Force, 1946 - 1949, Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs, 1890 2280-2 & 2494 4046-7 (Aerial Photograph). SDV342938.

Photographs taken on 10th December 1946 and 11th March 1948.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SX66SE37 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV177936.

(16/12/1977) A three-sided enclosure with an area of approximately 0.15 hectares, its dimensions being 45 metres north-west to south-east and by 35 metres transversely. The wall is uniformly 1.8 metres thick and up to a maximum of 1.0 metre in height; it is double-faced with orthostats. On the south side of the interior is a small rectangular structure built on to the main enclosure wall; its wall, consisting of roughly-heaped boulders, is 1.0 metre thick and 0.8 metres in height. The main enclosure walls end at a natural scarp above the Middle Brook, on the south-west bank of which the enclosure lies. The main structure is evidently prehistoric but the rectangular building could be of Medieval or later origin. Surveyed at 1:10 000 on PFD.

Robinson, R., 1977-1979, South Brent Parish Checklist (Worksheet). SDV151046.

Site visited on 11th May 1977. This pound is "D" shaped and seems to use the river bank to complete the enclosure in a comparable manner to the "half ring". There is a well preserved court on the south west side which appears to be more recent than the pound walls which are 1 to 1.5 metres high and scattered widely. There is a possible second court to the east of this and adjoining it, but no hut circles. There is a fragmentary wall crossing the pound parallel to the river. The pound is visible indistinctly on the 1948 RAF aerial photograph. This site has now been scheduled.

Robinson, R., 1984, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1984 (Un-published). SDV343082.

Site visited on 19th March 1984. Rectangular shaped enclosure apparently cut by streamwork.

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

Visible on aerial photograph.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, 106-7, Map 57, Figure 57.5 (Monograph). SDV337765.

'Middle Brook Central enclosure' lies close to the river in a sheltered position. The remains of one hut circle of circa 3.5 metres diameter is found on the edge of the river bank. Others may have been lost when the bank was cut back by tin streamers. Most disturbance was caused when a pound was later constructed in the southern half of the enclosure with puny drystone masonry one slab thick contrasting with the solid prehistoric stone work. The enclosure walls originally 1.8 metres wide and built of large blocks remain in fair condition up to 1 metre high. A tinners' cache is built into the southern boundary wall and still retains its covering of slabs propped together over the chamber.

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

'D' shaped 'Enclosure' shown on modern mapping with a sub-circular feature on the south side.

Historic England, 2020, National Heritage List for England, 1004557 (National Heritage List for England). SDV363414.

Enclosures and hut circles at Petre's Pit Bottom. The southern enclosure is D-shaped with three sides defined by substantial walls up to 1.8 metres wide and 1 metre high and the fourth side formed by a steep scarp slope which was probably the result of tin working activity. It contains the partial remains of one stone hut circle to the north and interior dividing walls. A later drystone oval pound was inserted on the south side and a small tinner’s cache inserted into the southern wall of the enclosure which still retains its corbelled slab roof forming a beehive shape, has two entrances and measures approximately 1.5 metres in diameter internally.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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