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Summary

Three hut circles lie within a series of small rectilinear enclosures attached to a reave running north-south across Shapley Common. The huts are all terraced into the gently sloping hillside with diameters around 6m. The walls are of massive orthostat construction and entrances, where apparent, lie in the southern quadrant. The associated rectilinear field system covers 1.0 hectares and consists of a number of sub-rectangular and L-shaped fields of between 0.05 and 0.1 hectares. The walls of these plots are comprised of large boulders and slabs up to 0.6m high. These are no obvious gateways.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020461: Prehistoric settlements, fields and enclosures within the Shapley Common coaxial field system, 770m south of Challacombe Cross

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SE30
• National Monuments Record: SX68SE382
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1345848
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443817
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/9
• Old SAM County Ref: 536
• Old SAM Ref: 22390.01

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FIELD SYSTEM (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• HUT CIRCLE (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV314722.

Des=plan/(nd)/in pf.

Baring Gould, S., 1895, Second Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 88-91 figs. (Article in Serial). SDV271711.

Brailsford, J. W., 1938, Bronze Age Stone Monuments of Dartmoor, 454 (Article in Serial). SDV304210.

Worth, R. H., 1945, The Dartmoor Hut Circles, 227, 231, 234, 236, 242 (Article in Serial). SDV246120.

Worth, R. H., 1953, Dartmoor, 100 (Monograph). SDV231148.

On Shapley Common near Cullacombe Head (not located) there were two prehistoric pounds of which one contained seven huts and the other contained three while there was one hut outside the pounds. In 1924/5 a contractor removed the pound walls and all the huts except one in the western pound where some of the stones were too large for road repairs. Coarse pottery was found on the site in 1895 (Baring Gould, 1895).

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1953, SX68SE30 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV314719.

(19/03/1953) Northern group of three hut circles, some of those scattered on Shapley Common. In good condition, no associated enclosure, with entrances in the south.

Fox, A., 1954, Twenty-First Report on the Archaeology and Early History of Devon, 101 (Article in Serial). SDV147928.

Ancient Monuments, 1964/2000, Schedule notes (Schedule Document). SDV314712.

(05/02/1964) Small intact settlement. Two circular huts in a small enclosure, linked by a short lynchetted track to the third hut. Around these are a rectangular group of Celtic fields. The site lies on open moorland sketch plan of site attached.
(estimated 2000) (part of) Prehistoric settlements, fields and enclosures within the Shapley Common coaxial field system, 770m south of Challacombe Cross. Three substantial huts within a group of small rectangular fields connected to a parallel reave of the Shapley Common coaxial field system. Field walls, 2m wide, 0.8m high, post-date coaxial fields. Huts are of double orthostatic construction with walls over 1m high, and butted by associated field walls.

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

Not visible on 1946 RAF photos.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume One - The East, Map 23 (Monograph). SDV299725.

Depicted and described by Butler.

Newman, P., 2002, Headland Warren and the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mines, S. Probert (Report - Survey). SDV363213.

(02/08/2001) Centred SX 69528238. Three hut circles lie within a series of small rectilinear enclosures attached to a reave running north-south across Shapley Common. The huts, tabulated below, are all terraced into the gently sloping hillside with diameters around 6m. The walls are of massive orthostat construction and entrances, where apparent, lie in the southern quadrant.
SX69528237 Hut measures 6.0m in diameter, with wall 1.2m wide, 0.5m high. Entrance on south.
SX69538236 Hut measures 5.8m in diameter, with wall 1.5m wide, 0.9m. Entrance on south-south-east.
SX69528240 Hut measures 5.7m in diameter, with wall 1.4m wide, 0.8m high. Possible entrance on south-east.
The associated rectilinear field system covers 1.0 hectares and consists of a number of sub-rectangular and L-shaped fields of between 0.05 and 0.1 ha. The walls of these plots are comprised of large boulders and slabs up to 0.6m high. These are no obvious gateways.
These features previously formed part of SX 68 SE 31.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8511 - Excavation on Shapley Common
• EDV7139 - Headland Warren and the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mines Survey (Ref: A1/20/2001, A1/34/2002)

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