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Summary

Hut circle of 6.9 metres diameter with walls 1.6 metres wide by 1.3 metres high within the Kes Tor Reave sysytem. Excavations between 1999 and 2002 recovered prehistoric pottery and flint and demonstrated the potential destructive physical and chemical impact of bracken rhizomes on archaeological deposts.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1016691: Coaxial field system and prehistoric settlements at Kestor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SSX68NE67
• National Monuments Record: SX68NE12
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443512
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68NE/1
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68NE/1/1
• Old SAM Ref: 28714
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX68NE12

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HUT CIRCLE (Constructed, Middle Bronze Age to Early Iron Age - 1500 BC (Between) to 301 BC (Between))

Full description

National Monuments Record, SX68NE67, SX68NE67 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV340026.

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

Hut circle shown on 19th century map at the junction of three field boundaries.

Royal Air Force, 19/05/1947, RAF/CPE/UK/2082, 3287-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDV350392.

Just visible on RAF aerial photo impinging onto a field boundary.

Ordnance Survey, 1906, 89NE (Cartographic). SDV275412.

Fox, A., 1954, Celtic Fields and Farms on Dartmoor in Light of Recent Excavations at Kestor (Article in Serial). SDV231175.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1974, SX68NE12 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV340015.

(18/07/1974) (SX 66808655) Hut Circle (NR). A hut circle of single walled type up to 1.0 metre high and 8.5 metres internal diameter. Situated in a mature conifer plantation. Published 1:2500 survey revised.

Turner, J. R., 1976, Ancient Monuments on Forestry Commission Land. Fernworthy and Bellever, Frenchbeer Plantation (Report - non-specific). SDV351823.

Site No. 1A. Site visit 1976. Hut circle on a platform site, cut into an east facing slope. Single ring of large stones on the eastern half of the hut incorporated into a modern enclosure wall. Not investigated. Has been planted over. Hut clear of debris. 4 trees growing in stone wall. 8 posts ringing clearance zone. 21 standing inside but clear of debris. Trees outside clearance zone are within falling distance of hut. Not included in 1955 Spooner-Dixon report.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., 149144 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Site visit 2nd April 1997. Stone hut circle at SX66808655. Forms part of a prehistoric settlement within the Kestor coaxial field system. Diameter 6.9 metres. Single orthostat and co (sic) wall 1.6 metres wide, 1.3 metres high. Internal area 37 square metres. Dense bracken and one small tree. Door faces 95' and is defined on the south by a jamb. 2 fallen orthostats lie in the passage. The hut is attached to a lynchet which stands up to 3 metres high and 4 metres wide.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 171, Map 36, Figure 36.1 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Hut circle '19' of 8.5 metres diameter at the junction of three field walls within the 'Kes Tor settlement'. Massive blocks support a field wall around the rim which were perhaps too large for easy removal.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 1999, Scheduled Monument Consent Letter (Correspondence). SDV340022.

Scheduled monument consent granted, subject to conditions, for works concerning the archaeological research excavation of a hut circle to examine the impact of bracken on sensitive archaeological deposits.

Gerrard, S., 1999, The Dartmoor Archaeology and Bracken Project. Interim Report for 1999 Season (Report - Interim). SDV364213.

A survey of bracken rhizome damage during excavation within the round house in 2000 found damage to the less sensitive upper layers. Prehistoric pottery and flint were recovered from the excavation.
12 sherds of prehistoric pottery were recovered during the excavation in 1999. The material had severe surface erosion but was probably of late Bronze Age or early Iron Age date. During the excavation in 2000 65 sherds of prehistoric pottery were recovered suggesting the prehistoric occupation layers.

Gerrard, S. + Quinnell, H. + Tingle, M., 2000, The Dartmoor Archaeology and Bracken Project. Interim Report for 2000 Season (Report - Interim). SDV340023.

A survey of bracken rhizome damage during excavation within the round house in 2000 found damage to the less sensitive upper layers. Prehistoric pottery and flint were recovered from the excavation.
12 sherds of prehistoric pottery were recovered during the excavation in 1999. The material had severe surface erosion but was probably of late Bronze Age or early Iron Age date. During the excavation in 2000 65 sherds of prehistoric pottery were recovered suggesting the prehistoric occupation layers.

Gerrard, S., 2003, The Dartmoor Archaeology and Bracken Project. Interim Report for 2002 Season (Report - Interim). SDV340025.

The 2002 excavations removed a substantial amount of the historical deposits and found stones representing activity at the hut circle from the Middle Bronze Age to the Early iron Age. 49 prehistoric sherds were recovered in 2000 and a further 11 in 2002 representing four fabric groups ranging from the middle Bronze Age to the early Iron Age. Items included a prehistoric hammer stone, pottery, whetstones and flints. Two sherds of Roman pottery suggested activity until the early 3rd century. Although a number of crystals were found at the site there was no correlation with prehistoric activity. Several small sherds of medieval pottery were recovered from the topsoil.

Gerrard, S., 2004, The Dartmoor Archaeology and Bracken Project. Interim Report for 2003 Season (Report - Interim). SDV360394.

GeoInformation Group Ltd, 2010, 1:625 2010 Colour aerial photography for Dartmoor (12.5cm resolution) (Aerial Photograph). SDV346026.

Visible on aerial photograph.

Gerrard, S., 2016, Archaeology and bracken – The Teigncombe prehistoric roundhouse excavation 1999 – 2005 (Report - Excavation). SDV364222.

Gerrard, S., 2016, Archaeology and Bracken: the Teigncombe Prehistoric Roundhouse Excavation (Article in Serial). SDV360643.

Historic England, 2023, National Heritage List for England, 1016691 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365228.

Within Scheduled area.

Unknown, Mar 2011, Teigncombe Pottery Seminar (Article in Serial). SDV358074.

968 sherds of pre-medieval pottery have been found. The majority is Middle Bronze Age Trevisker ware including some of gabbroic clay. Otherwise the materials varied from estuarine to local river clays with igneous rock inclusions. Few sherds were decorated but there were two pieces of cord impressed pot and some incised or fingernail marked. 361 sherds dated to the Early Iron Age possibly 6th to 4th century BC. These were mainly made from estuarine and river clays mixed with stream washed granite and fine growan and are of the Plain Jar Group style. There were also 10 sherds of Roman pottery in the assemblage, the first to be found on Dartmoor. These included one piece of Samian ware and 3 sherds of Exeter sandy grey ware dated to the 1st or early 2nd Century AD.

Gerrard, S., March 2002, Threat of Bracken (Article in Serial). SDV356534.

Project initiated in 1999 to examine the impact of bracken on archaeological sites. Early results from the excavation of a roundhouse near Kestor illustrate the destructive physical and chemical impact of bracken rhizomes on archaeological information.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV5887 - HAMMERSTONE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC?)
• FDV5885 - LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC?)
• FDV5886 - WHETSTONE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC?)
• FDV4691 - SHERD (Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age - 1000 BC to 301 BC)

Associated Events

• EDV6216 - Condition Surveys of Ancient Monuments on Forestry Commission Land
• EDV7420 - Condition survey archaeological features in Frenchbeer Plantation
• EDV7423 - Archaeological survey of woodlands near Teigncombe
• EDV8675 - Excavations at Teigncombe Round House, Kestor
• EDV8678 - Excavation of eastern wall of roundhouse, Teigncombe

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