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Summary

Hut circle of 4.3 metres diameter with walls 1.3 metres wide by 0.9 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: 144114
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/23
• Old SAM County Ref: 957B
• Old SAM Ref: 28671
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX68SE45

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

Site visit 4th May 1975. One of a group of ten scheduled hut circles. A small terraced hut.

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

Fernworthy Plantation. West Lowton 3B.
Site visit 1976. Hut circle 4.5 metres diameter on a platform site cut into an east facing slope. Wall 1.3 metres thick. Largest stone 1.5 by 0.25 metres, standing 0.8 metres above ground. Entrance on southern side. Not investigated, has been planted over.
February 1976. Standard treatment. 8 posts ringing clearance zone. All agreements carried out.
Included in 1955 Spooner and Dixon report (A) Region south of the Teign (Assacombe and Lowton), Site No. 2a.

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 on the West Lowton group of sites since January 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., MPP 144114 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Site visit 30th May 1997. Hut forming part of dispersed settlement. 4.3 metres diameter. Single orthostat wall, 1.3 metres wide, o.9 metres high. Internal area 14.51 square metres. Door faces 155 degrees (south-south-east), defined on west-south-west by a slab leaning into the passage.

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

Hut circle shown at 'Lowton Brook West' settlement south of the fields and close to the brook.

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

Fernworthy. West Lowton Group 3B. Site visit 27th May 1992. Hut circle located in a clearing just above a trackway to the south of a stone wall. Site marked. Vegetation controlled. Recommended that present management regime be maintained.

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

Visited on 3rd June 1995. Hut circle at SX66358328 of 4.3 metres diameter with walls 1.0 metres wide by 0.5 metres high and a possible entrance to the south-east.

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

Fernworthy. West Lowton Group 3B. Site visit 27th September 1996. Site marked by a single post.

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

Hut circle shown on survey slightly to the south.

Fugro-BKS, 2013, Fernworthy Forest LiDAR survey (Cartographic). SDV351778.

Hut circle visible.

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

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 with the average being 30.56 square metres. The height of the surrounding walls vary between 0.6m and 1.3m, with the average being 0.91m. 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, 26, Fig. 20 (Report - Survey). SDV351784.

Hut standing alone near the bottom of a slope in an area cleared of stone apparently to accommodate it. At 4.0 metres internal diameter, it is the smallest hut circle in the Lowton West group. The entrance is on the south-east side and a recumbent large slab may be one of the former door linings. The floor is stepped into the hillside.

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

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

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

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