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Summary

Huccaby Ring a circular banked enclosure south-east of Huccaby Tor; smaller than Outer Huccaby Ring that lies to the north-west of the Tor. A Bronze Age enclosure visible as a turf covered stoney bank measuring 3.5 metres wide and stading to a maximum height of 0.7 metres. There is no obvious sign of an entrance.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1002603: Huccaby Ring

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67SE21
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442916
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67SE/27
• Old SAM County Ref: 799

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'Huccaby Ring' shown on early 20th century map with a significant boundary.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1951/1980, SX67SE21 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV218897.

(25/08/1951) Shape still apparent but flattening in parts, the embankment being 0.3 metres above ground level, overgrown with furze with stones outcropping.
(12/03/1980) Huccaby Ring (name confirmed) lies in moorland at 330m OD on a south east slope, It is near circular 53.0m in diameter and has been severely robbed. The perimeter is defined by an intermittent bank 3.5m wide and 0.5m high, of turf covered rubble (see plan).
This may have been the backing for internal facing slabs of which four survive, three of them prone and displaced. They are up to 1.7m across and suggest Huccaby Ring was originally a strong pound like enclosure. There are several gaps none of which can be identified as the entrance. There is a levelled area 4.0m across near the centre of the enclosure which may represent the site of a hut. Otherwise the interior is featureless save for a small rock outcrop in the south east.
Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD.

Grinsell, L. V., 1970, Discovering Regional Archaeology: South Western England, 26 (Monograph). SDV304192.

This is a smaller hill slope enclosure to the south-east of outer Huccaby Ring.

Ancient Monuments, 1970, Huccaby Ring Earthwork (Schedule Document). SDV218896.

Huccaby Ring Earthwork. This is a circular banked enclosure. The bank is apparently a grassed over rubble bank. There are three large stones on the perimeter, one still standing upright. There is possibly the remains of a cairn to the north-west of the centre. The entrance was probably on the north-east side.

Ordnance Survey, 1972, OS 72 104, 099-100 (Aerial Photograph). SDV254387.

National Monument Record, 1977, NMR SX6574, 1/387-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDV218900.

Robinson, R., 1982, List of Field Monument Warden Visits 1982 (Un-published). SDV345608.

30/3/1982. Field Monument Warden visit.

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

This site is distinguished by vegetation on National Monuments Record 1977 aerial photograph.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 56, 227, Map 28 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Huccaby Ring at SX658738 of 46 metres by 47 metres with an area of 0.2 hectares. Apart from a few massive slabs the wall stones have been removed and the rubble core allowed to collapse into a low turf-covered bank surrounding an almost circular interior. Some stony mounds within may be the remains of huts but none are identifiable now.

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

(31/01/1996) Centred SX 65857381. Huccaby Ring lies in heathland on the gentle SE flank of Huccaby Tor. It consists of a turf covered stoney bank measuring 3.5m wide and a maximum of 0.7m high which encloses a slightly ovoid area 48m N to S by 49m. Much of the bank and interior are overgrown by gorse; there are no identifiable internal features. There is no obvious entrance but the ring is bisected by a modern footpath which has caused some erosion on its upslope, N, side.
Huccaby Ring lies within the Dartmeet parallel reave system (locally SX 67 SE 95) but is not physically linked to any of the reaves. Evidence from past RCHME surveys of similar areas (Shovel Down and Riddon Ridge) suggests that such enclosures are earlier in origin than the Middle Bronze Age reave systems in which they are now situated.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

Huccaby Ring is depicted on the modern mapping.

Environment Agency WMS, 2019, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution), 2019 (Cartographic). SDV362956.

Visible on Lidar data.

Historic England, 2022, National Heritage List for England, 1002603 (National Heritage List for England). SDV364675.

The monument includes a prehistoric enclosure situated on the gently sloping south eastern side of Huccaby Tor. The enclosure survives as an oval earthwork measuring up to 49 metres long by 48 metres wide internally defined by a stony bank of up to 3.5 metres wide and 0.7 metres high. There is no clear entrance. It lies within part of the Dartmeet coaxial field system but has no direct interconnecting banks or close associations with surviving reaves. There are some large natural boulders in the vicinity. In the interior is a very slight circular platform terrace measuring up to 4 metres in diameter and 0.3 metres high, which is the site of a possible hut circle. The enclosure is cut by a track.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV3462 - Survey at Huccaby Farm, Lydford
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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