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Summary

Hut circle of 6.5 metres diameter with walls 1.5 metres wide by 0.8 metres high within dispersed settlement to the west of Lowton Brook in Fernworthy Forest

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1017983: Dispersed stone hut circle settlement and associated fields 490m south east of Silk House

Other References/Statuses

• MPP Archaeological Item Dataset: 144111
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/22
• Old SAM County Ref: 957C
• Old SAM Ref: 28671
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX68SE45

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HUT CIRCLE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC)

Full description

Ormerod, G. W., 1864, On the Hut Circles on the Eastern Side of Dartmoor (Article in Serial). SDV304174.

Beside a small feeder of the South Teign, near Fernworthy, Ormerod noted ten huts measuring 4.5 - 10.0 metres diameter. One hut, 4.5 metres diameter, was situated nearly in the centre of a quadrangular enclosure measuirng about 15 by 29 metres.

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

One of the 'Hut Circles' shown on 19th century map.

Morley, 1975, Ancient Monuments Division Site Visit (Unknown). SDV351964.

Site visit 4th May 1975. One of ten hut circles. A fine large terraced hut with walls of coursed cyclopean masonry. Three courses survive in places. On the south side the inside faces of the stones are concave, following the curvature of the wall.

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

Fernworthy Plantation. West Lowton 2B.
Site visit 1976. Hut circle, 7.6 metres diameter, on a platform cut into an east facing slope, the wall stones laid on their face. Part of the wall on the east side has fallen away. Site robbed for a modern enclosure wall nearby. Not investigated, has been planted over.
February 1976. Seven posts ring the clearance zone. All agreements carried out.
Included in 1955 Spooner and Dixon report (A) Region south of the Teign (Assacombe and Lowton), Site No. 2.

Dartmoor National Park Authority + Forestry Commission + Dartmoor Preservation Association, 1976, Conservation of Ancient Monuments. The Report of a Working Party (Report - non-specific). SDV248248.

Turner, J., 1978, Report of Work Carried Out by the Forestry Commission since January 1976 (Report - non-specific). SDV351816.

No work has been carried out to the West Lowton group of sites since 1976.

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

Not visible on 1946 RAF aerial photos due to tree cover.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., 144111 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Site visit 30th May 1977. Hut circle forming part of a dispersed settlement. Diameter 6.5 metres. Wall 1.5 metres wide, 0.8 metres high. Internal area 33.16 square metres. South-west sector survives as well preserved coursed wall. North-east sector survives as well defined scarp. Hut lies adjacent to a 2 metre wide, 1 metres deep corn ditch. Door faces 160 degrees (south-south-east) and is defined by edge set slabs on west-south-west. 3.0 metres east-south-east of the door is a large triangular standing stone, 1.3 metres high, 1.05 metres wide at base and 0.2 metres thick.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 157, Map 35, Site 4 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Hut circle at 'Lowton Brook West' settlement.

Smith, N., 1992, Condition Survey of Identified Archaeology with Woodland Areas 1992 (Un-published). SDV351819.

Fernworthy. West Lowton Group 2B. Site visit 27th May 1992. Hut circle adjacent and south-east of stone wall, in a clearing near Lowton Brook. Tracks close by. Site marked. Vegetation grazed. Recommended that present management regime be maintained. Other details: photo.

Dartmoor National Park Authority, 1996, Condition Survey of Identified Archaeology within Woodland Areas 1996 (Un-published). SDV351820.

Fernworthy. West Lowton Group 2B. Site visit 27th September 1996. Site marked by single post.

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

Hut circle shown on survey.

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

Hut circle visible in clearing on aerial photo.

Newman, P., 2013, Fernworthy Forest Sites Survey (Un-published). SDV351708.

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

Hut circle depicted.

English Heritage, 2013, National Heritage List for England, 1017983 (National Heritage List for England). SDV350785.

The monument, which falls into six areas, includes a dispersed stone hut circle settlement and associated fields situated on a north east facing slope overlooking the valley of the Lowton Brook. The settlement contains at least 12 stone hut circles together with a number of lengths of rubble walling forming part of a field system. The stone hut circles within the settlement all survive as banks each surrounding an internal circular area which varies from 14.51 to 55.39 square metres. The height of the surrounding walls vary between 0.6 metres and 1.3 metres Four of the huts have visible doorways and the orthostatic, rubble bank and coursed walling building traditions are all represented.
Despite afforestation, the dispersed stone hut circle settlement and associated fields lying west of Lowton Brook survives well and contains archaeological structures, features and deposits, relating to the exploitation of this part of the moor during the Bronze Age period.

Newman, P., 2013, The Archaeology of Fernworthy Forest, Dartmoor, Devon, 25, Fig. 20 (Report - Survey). SDV351784.

This hut has been robbed of its larger stones leaving little more than a 7.3 metre diameter earthwork ring. Two fallen stones, one either side of a breach in the bank on the south side probably represent the remains of an entrance. 3.3 metres south of this entrance is an upright granite stone over 1.0 metres high. It is not part of the hut or any surviving enclosure wall and its presence cannot be accounted for.

DPA, Unknown, Appendix A on AA5208 (Report - non-specific). SDV276218.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, Unknown, SX68SE45 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV276178.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6203 - Archaeological Survey of Fernworthy Forest
• EDV6216 - Condition Surveys of Ancient Monuments on Forestry Commission Land
• EDV7389 - Fernworthy Forest condition survey 1996
• EDV7410 - Fernworthy Forest condition survey 1992
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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