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Summary

This large apparently enclosed, settlement is situated on a flattish peat-covered plain on the east side of Roundhill. It lies in the angle formed by the West Dart and Blackbrook Rivers; the east and west sides apparently delimited by sinuous prehistoric boulder and stone walls. Twenty-five of the twenty-six huts depicted on the 1901 plan was identified on the ground during 1988 fieldwork, also three huts and two other features not shown on the earlier plan. The remains of the majority of the huts lie under a thick layer of peat which obscures all but the tops of the walls. The walling of boulder and stone composition now a maximum 0.4m high may be of double-faced construction in places. The positions of the entrances are not always clear. Very little walling it traceable within the settlement and only one linear boulder and stone line up to 0.4m in height, centred at SX 61637425, is presently identifiable.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1002577: Settlement SE of Two Bridges, Blackbrook River
• SHINE: Earthwork and structural remains of a number of bronze age hut circles, medieval pillow and related fragments of enclosure

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67SW6
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443250
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SW/6
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SW/6/17
• Old SAM County Ref: 705
• Pastscape: 443250

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• 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.

'Hut Circles' shown on 19th century map.

Prowse, A. B., 1901, The Antiquities of Ockery and Roundhill, Dartmoor, 498 (Article in Serial). SDV233834.

Royal Air Force, 1946 - 1949, Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs, 2149 4431 (Aerial Photograph). SDV342938.

Photograph taken on 11th July 1947.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950, SX67SW6 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV234740.

(01/09/1950) (SX 613742) A group of 23 hut circles varying from 3yds. to 10yds. diameter on the southeast slope of Roundhill, bounded on their west side by a slight bank running generally southeast with an occasional large stone along its course. The largest hut circle encloses two small ones.
Hut circle. Correctly positioned on 6" field sheet.
A. SX 61287430. Double walled type, small. Diameter 4.5m, wall- width 1.0m, height 0.3m. Composed of turf-covered stone. Condition fair, possible entrance on SW side.
B. SX 61277424. Small double-walled type. Diameter 5.0m, wall- width 1.0m, height 0.3m. Entrance on SE side. Composed of turf-covered stones. Condition fair.
C. SX 61297426. Diameter 4.5m, height 0.2m. The walls are almost buried. Entrance on SE side ? Condition poor.
D. SX 61327429. Small double-walled type. Diameter 4.5m, height 0.3m, wall-width 1.0m. Turf-covered stone walling nearly buried. Condition poor, entrance not located.
E. SX 61317425. Very small double-walled type. Diameter 3.5m, wall width 0.75m, height 0.25m. Composed of turf-covered stones. Entrance on SE side. Condition poor.
F. SX 61317424. Double-walled type, diameter 4.0m, wall width 1.0m, height 0.3m. Turf-covered stones, entrance on SSE side. Condition poor.
G. SX 61317421. No certain trace found. There are 3 blocks of granite a few meters south of the position shown on the 6" map, but they do not appear to be part of a hut circle.
H. SX 61347423. Remains of double-walled type. Now in ruinous condition. Diameter 14.5m, wall-width 1.5m, height 0.3m. This circle has been much despoiled and many of the stones are thrown inside the circle. Mainly turf-covered wall. There is a gap of 9.0m on the west side. Entrance position uncertain.
I. SX 61387417. Double-walled type. Diameter 10.0m, wall-width 1.5m, height 0.5m. Large, partly turf-covered stones. Entrance on SE side. Condition quite good.
J. SX 61337428. Double-walled type. Diameter 5.0m, wall-width 1.5m, height 0.2. Turf-covered stones nearly buried. Entrance on SE side. A stone on the SW side stands to 0.5m high. Condition poor.
K. SX 61247433. Double-walled type. Diameter 8.0m, height 0.4m, wall-width 1.5m. Large turf-covered stones. Entrance on SE side. Condition fairly good.
L. SX 61247435. Double-walled type. Diameter 11.0m, wall-width 1.5m, height 0.4m. Large turf-covered stones, many of which have been pillaged from the east side and some thrown down into the circle. Condition fair.
M. SX 61257423. Double-walled type. Diameter 4.0m, wall-width 1.0m, height 0.25m. Turf-covered stones, nearly all buried. Poor condition. Butts onto (?) enclosure wall.
N. SX 61257422. Double-walled type. Diameter 3.0m, wall-width 1.0m, height 0.25m. Turf-covered stones which are almost buried. Butts against south side of 'M'. Condition poor.
O. SX 61397418. Double-walled type. Diameter 4.0m, wall-width 0.75m, height 0.2m. Composed of turf-covered stones. Condition poor. Butts onto east side of 'I'.
P. SX 61197437 - 61287414. Enclosure wall in very poor condition and is intermittent in places. Average wall-width 1.0m and height 0.3m. It is composed of fairly large stones with occasional very large boulders, very crudely constructed. The general line of the wall suggests it may have served as a linear work, perhaps running from the valley of the Blackbrook, over the hill and down to the West Dart River, then isolating this hut circle community from the main part of Roundhill.
Y. SX 61587418. Small hut circle of large granite slabs. Diameter 3.5m, height 0.5m. One wall-slab stands to a height of 1.1m. Entrance on SE side, condition good.
Z. SX 61597419. Single-walled type, like 'A', but largely turf-covered. Diameter 5.5m, height 0.25m. Condition poor; entrance on SE side. No trace of another hut circle mentioned by Prowse as belonging to this group, was found.

Royal Air Force, 1964, F62/58/6399, 034-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDV272301.

Photograph taken on 2nd July 1964.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1980, SX67SW6, N. V. Quinnell (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV234748.

(18/02/1980) A total of twenty-three huts are identifiable, seventeen forming a widespread settlement in the west in an area of long, matted, grass on a very slight east slope. Six huts (of which three were not recorded by Prowse) are some 300m. to the east (see plan).
All the huts are of Type 1 (SX 56 SE 19) and in fairly poor condition. They have internal diameters measuring from 2.2m. to 10.0m., with boulder and rubble walling 0.6m. to 0.9m. wide and usually about 0.3m. high. Where they are discernible entrances are to the south or south-east.
There are some huts that vary from the standard. One 'A' at SX 61257435, has a clear subdivision; 'B', at SX 61337422, is itself within a circular enclosure 12.0m in diameter. This is
probably the 'largest hut' referred to by Prowse but there are no traces of a second hut within it. 'C', at SX 61387417, has a small annex beside the entrance. 'D', at SX 61667420, is built
against a large 'grounder' and has a diameter of 2.4m with walling 0.6m. wide and 0.2m. high (see ground photograph). If this is not a hut, whether for habitation or storage, the only alternative is a form of ring cairn.
The settlement is bounded on the western side by a rubble field wall 216m. long, 1.6m. wide and 0.6m. high. Two huts are integrated in the wall. On the eastern side there is a similar but more fragmentary wall 110m. long with two huts attached to it. These isolated walls are part of a field system which probably covers at least 18ha of Round Hill but is concealed by peat and the mat of coarse grass. Other walls occur to the north-east (SX 67 SW 3 and 4) but nowhere is there sufficient to indicate the size or plan of the fields.
Surveyed at 1:10 000 on MSD and at 1:2500 for record purposes.

Greeves, T. A. P., 1982, Dunnabridge Farm (Plan - measured). SDV266230.

Robinson, R., 1982, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1982 (Un-published). SDV342809.

Site visited on 22nd January 1982.

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

Nine hut circles are visible between SX61237430 and SX61407410 (there are three attached hut circles in an enclosure to the west. Three short linear features are recorded at SX61247427, SX61357423 and SX61377421, all of them attached to hut circles.

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

(01/03/1988) Centred SX 61347429. This large apparently enclosed, settlement is situated on a flattish peat-covered plain between 335m and 350m OD on the east side of Roundhill. It lies in the angle formed by the West Dart and Blackbrook Rivers; the east and west sides apparently delimited by sinuous prehistoric boulder and stone walls.
Twenty-five of the twenty-six huts depicted on the TDA plan (1901) can now be identified on the ground, also three huts and two other features, not shown on the plan.
The remains of the majority of the huts lie under a thick layer of peat which obscures all but the tops of the walls. The walling of boulder and stone composition now a maximum 0.4m high may be of double-faced construction in places. The positions of the entrances are not always clear. Very little walling it traceable within the settlement and only one linear boulder and stone line up to 0.4m in height, centred at SX 61637425, is presently identifiable.
(Lettering based, where appropriate, on the 1950 field report):
A. SX 61287430. A hut circle of 3.5m internal diameter with a ragged wall of stones and small boulders 0.8m wide and 0.3m high.
B. SX 61277424. A hut circle c. 4.2m by 3.7m internally with walling 0.8m wide and 0.4m high. The entrance is probably in the SE side.
C. SX 61297426. A hut circle of 3.8m internal diameter with walling approximately 0.7m wide and 0.2m high.
D. SX 61327429. A hut circle of 3.5m internal diameter with a boulder and stone wall incorporating a few upright slabs approximately 0.9m wide and up to 0.3m high. A large boulder lies to the west.
E. SX 61317425. A well defined hut circle of 3.2m internal diameter with walling 0...9m wide and 0.4m high. The entrance is on the SE side.
F. SX 61317424. A hut circle 3.1m internal diameter with walling 0.9m wide and 0.4m high.
G. SX 61327421. A hut circle c. 2.8m by 2.5m internally with walling c. 0.5m wide and 0.3m high.
H. SX 61347423. A disturbed and mutilated circular enclosure which apparently incorporates two small structures of uncertain origin and function. The enclosure is approximately 12.6m in internal diameter and it has a ? double-faced wall of small boulders slabs and stones and measures 1.0m wide and on average 0.4m high. There are wide gaps in the NW and SE sides and much debris is scattered in the interior. The two structures are very disturbed an difficult to interpret on the ground; they appear to be built against the enclosure wall, one measures 2.8m by 2.6m and the second approximately 4.1m by 3.6m. One or both could be hut circles within an enclosure as suggested by Prowse.
I. SX 61387417. A well defined hut circle internally 10.2m in diameter with a double-faced wall constructed of small boulders, slabs and stones 1.0m wide and up to 0.7m high. The position of the entrance is not clear and annex "O" is attached to the E side.
J. SX 61347429. A hut circle of 4.0m internal diameter with walling 0.8m wide and 0.2m high.
K. SX 61257433. A partially stripped hut circle of 4.0m internal diameter with a double-faced wall of stones. Small boulders and slabs 1.0m wide and 0.6m high in places. A rather ragged boulder and stone line extends from the west side up the slope to link with the prehistoric linear wall ("P").
L. SX 61257435. A hut circle internally 8.5m to 9.0m across with a partially robbed wall 1.0m wide and 05m high, the east side is missing. The hut is bisected by a low ragged wall, however it is not clear whether this is a deliberate sub-division (Quinnell) or the result of dumping (Ridyard). A small annex lies against the NE side of the hut.
M. SX 61267423. A squarish hut internally 4.2m by 3.8m with a wall 0.5m wide and 0.3m high.
N. SX 61257423. A squarish hut internally 2.9m by 2.5m with a wall 0.7m wide and 0.3m high. Both huts are linked to the linear boundary wall (P) which deviates from its line presumably to incorporate these two features.
O. SX 61397417. A small hut or annex linked to the side of hut 'I'. Internally it measures 3.5m by 2.5m with walling 1.0m wide and 0.3m high. No entrance gap can be detected.
P. SX 61267413 to SX 61207434. This prehistoric wall can be traced for 230m as a sinuous stone and small boulder line c. 0.6m wide and up to 0.5m high. It may as suggested by Ridyard, extend onto the upper part of Roundhill and link with the other fragmentary walling of a field system (SX 67 SW 98). Its southern end, now cut by a leat, runs into the extensive peat marsh, part of the floodplain of the Blackbrook River. A 7m wide gap near hut 'N' may be an original feature.
The following two features are depicted on the OS survey dated January 1980.
Q. SX 61327420. A small circular dotted feature. This is traceable on the ground as a semi-circular band of stones 0.2m high and probably represents the exposed part of a hut circle which has an internal diameter of about 4.5m.
R. SX 61247434. A circular feature about 4.8m in diameter. This feature is not evident on the ground not is it depicted on the TDA plan. Possibly a buried hut.
S. SX 61257427. A hut circle of 2.8m internal diameter with walling c. 0.8m wide and 0.3m high; the entrance is possibly in the SE side.
T. SX 61297427. A hut circle of 4.2m internal diameter with walling 0.8m wide and 0.2m high. A large triangular-shaped slab measuring 1.5m by 0.6m and 0.4m thick is incorporated in the wall.
U. SX 61317427. A hut circle of 3.3m internal diameter with a buried stone wall now about 0.2m in height.
V. SX 61317429. A hut circle internally 5m by 4m with a partially buried stone wall now 0.3m in height.
W. SX 61247438. A probable hut circle comprising a rather crude circle of stones and small boulders approximately 3.6m in internal diameter and up to 0.3m high. A 9m long 'tail' of boulders and stones extends from the SE side down the slope.
X. SX 61437408. (Grid reference derived from the TDA plan). A hut circle depicted on the plan (1950) but not shown on the OS plan dated 1980 bor visible on the ground.
Y. SX 61587420. A well defined hut circle internally 2.8m in diameter with a wall composed of large earthfast boulders and upright slabs c. 0.5m wide with the tallest slab 1.3m high.
Z. SX 61597421. A hut circle c. 4.9m in diameter with walling 0.7m wide and 0.3m high.
AA. SX 61647420. A hut circle c. 4.9m by 4.2m internally built against a number of natural earthfast boulders. The remnant of the boulder and stone wall is 0.5m high and the entrance is in the south side.
The following features are not depicted on the TDA plan.
BB. SX 61647424. A hut circle internally 2.5m with a poor stone wall 0.6m wide and 0.3m high. It lies against the linear boulder and stone wall 'EE'.
CC. SX 61597430. A hut circle now evident as a slight 4.2m diameter platform which lies against the linear wall 'EE'. The platform might cover the footings of the hut.
DD. SX 61667420. This sub-circular feature built against a large earthfast granite boulder is about 2.5m across internally with rather ragged boulder and stone walling. It may prove to be a hut or building (a) however it is directly on line with the linear wall (EE) and about 6m from the present southern end.
EE. SX 61597430 to SX 61667421. A boulder and stone wall, possibly the eastern edge of the settlement area, is a maximum 0.5m high and 0.6m wide.
Most of the site is scheduled with the exception of the five huts comprising the eastern group and the southerly hut of the main group.
Of the fifteen hut circles depicted on the RCHM APP transcription (1985) only three (F, H and Z) can be related to ground features and another to a site noted by Greeves.

Butler, J., 1993, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Four - The South-East, 226-9, Map 65, Figure 65.1 (Monograph). SDV337765.

Round Hill settlement takes up most of the eastern half of the hill with huts and enclosure walls. A low rubble bank supporting a line of slabs winds up from the lower slopes from the edge of the damp ground bounding the huts to the west.
Centred SX 6163 7424. Six huts, a 'bank' and several pillow mounds are shown at 'Round Hill East' to the east of the main settlement.

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

Hut circles and linear features shown on survey.

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

Some features visible on aerial photograph.

Ordnance Survey, 2021, MasterMap 2021 (Cartographic). SDV364015.

'Settlement and Field System' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2021, National Heritage List for England, 1002577 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364016.

The stone hut circle settlement survives as a scatter approximately 17 hut circles close to the foot of the Roundhill. The majority are small with internal diameters of between 2.5 metres to 4 metres and two of these are connected to a field boundary. Four of the hut circles are larger and have either internal divisions or ancillary structures attached and measure up to 8.2 metres in diameter internally. The hut circles are all defined by low rubble walls. The settlement lies within a field system which is partially visible and partly obscured by peat deposits. A length of wall on the west side of the settlement is the most clearly visible, but smaller lengths and pounds are present between the buildings of the settlement.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8627 - Roundhill Farm Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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