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Summary

Only a single section of probable prehistoric enclosure wall extending for approximately 56 metres north to south survives. The remains consist of a stoney bank approximately 2.5 metres wide by up to 0.5 metres high. No further remains of the enclosure or huts mentioned by Prowse (1891) are thought to survive.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Walling remains of a Bronze Age oval enclosure on Lakehead Hill in the northern part of Bellever Forest

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67NW29
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442590
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/25

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Prowse, A. B., 1891, The Ancient Metropolis of Dartmoor, 312-3, map. (Article in Serial). SDV245176.

An enclosure measuring 225 yds x 115 yds. Its boundary "can be traced fairly well" and is visible from a distance as a crop mark. There are two vague hut circles on the eastern side (see plan).

Crossing, W., 1912 (1965), Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor, 469 (Monograph). SDV320981.

Worth, R. H., 1936, 55th Report on Barrows, 50 (Article in Serial). SDV357808.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1952, SX67NW29 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV262541.

(09/11/1951) SX 6458 7832 The area of the pound is completely planted over with coniferous trees, 10 feet high, which are impossible to penetrate.
(08/01/1952) I understand that the stone foundations of this pound were robbed prior to the planting.

Dartmoor National Park Authority + Forestry Commission + Dartmoor Preservation Association, 1976, Conservation of Ancient Monuments. The Report of a Working Party, No. 14. Site No. 4a (Report - non-specific). SDV248248.

Pound (length 205m, width 105m). Marked on OS 6 inch map. Included in 1955 Spooner / Dixon report: (Lakehead Bellever Laughter), site No. 14. Site No. 4a in Bellever Plantation, Lakehead (with sketch map) in DNP field report.
(1976) Only sixty metres long, running north-south in direction, on the western side has been identified.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX67NW29 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV262538.

(19/11/1979) The course of much of this enclosure is depicted on the OS 25"1951, situated at 381m OD on the N slope of Lakehead Hill. It is within the conifers of Bellever Plantation and is now completely destroyed or covered by humus save for a 27m length of nebulous walling 0.8m wide and 0.2m high. No hut circles are visible.
No survey action taken.

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

Not visible on 1951 RAF aerial photo due to tree cover.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 44, Map 27 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Enclosure 70 metres to the north-east of Kraps Ring shown on Prowse's plan of 1891 with two huts against the eastern wall. Recent tree felling has revealed two short lengths of wall.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1993-1998, Dartmoor Royal Forest Project, P. Newman (Report - Survey). SDV346608.

(22/11/1993) SX 64537828. On the northern lower slope of Lakehead Hill in an area of recently planted conifer saplings is a section of probable prehistoric enclosure wall extending for approximately 56m north to south. The remains consist of a stoney bank approximately 2.5m wide by up to 0.5m high. The remainder of the enclosure and the two 'vague hut circles' described by Prowse (1891) have either been destroyed or buried beneath the debris of an earlier phase of forestry activity. A narrow strip of land surrounding the remains is currently kept free of vegetation and has not been replanted in the most recent forestry phase.

English Heritage, 2005-2008, Prehistoric Survey Information (Cartographic). SDV345521.

Section of the western wall shown on surevy.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

The northern section of the enclosure is depicted on the modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7388 - Archaeological condition survey in Bellever Woods
• EDV7406 - Archaeological condition survey in Bellever Woods
• EDV7431 - Woodland Survey (1989-90) at Bellever, Soussons and other woodland parcels
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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