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Summary

Submerged hut circle of 6.7 metres diameter with walls 0.8 metres wide by 1.1 metres high and an entrance to the south-east 450 metres north-west of Metherall farmstead at Fernworthy Reservoir. Seen in 1995 when water the level of the reservoir was low.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Walling remains of a group of partially submerged Bronze Age hut circles and associated fields with Tudor secondary occupation at Fernworthy Reservoir

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SE49
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443845
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SE/57
• Old SAM County Ref: 610

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

Western of three 'Hut Circles' shown on 19th century map.

Worth, R. H., 1935, 12th Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 119-127, Pl. 12-14, Figs. 9-24 (Article in Serial). SDV259660.

Worth, R. H., 1937, Thirteenth Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 143-150 (Article in Serial). SDV256641.

Excavation of three circles in 1936, prior to the construction of new reservoir at Fernworthy, showed the eastern circle. This circle "No 5" (SX 6682 8400), a hut-circle of about 25 feet diameter, was not excavated.

Worth, R. H., 1945, The Dartmoor Hut Circles, 230-4, 251-6, Pl. 11, 12 (Article in Serial). SDV246120.

Remains of double stone wall probably used as cattledrove leading up to hut circle.

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1995, 2361-2 (Aerial Photograph). SDV224714.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1952, SX68SE47 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV259659.

(22/10/1952) All these feature are now under the water level of Fernworthy Reservoir.

Fox, A., 1954, Celtic Fields and Farms on Dartmoor in Light of Recent Excavations at Kestor, 87 (Article in Serial). SDV231175.

National Monuments Record, 1979, SF1509, 962 (Aerial Photograph). SDV262885.

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

Visible and recorded.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 155-6 Map 35, Figure 35.1 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Hut circle '6' of 7.4 metres diameter on the southern edge of Fernworthy Reservoir has not been excavated.

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

(02/08/1995) Centred SX 66838402. Three hut circles normally below the surface of Fernworthy Reservoir were exposed during the summer of 1995. All huts are well-built utilising large upright slabs and blocks up to 1.1m high and possess entrances in the S or SE quadrants. Several lengths of later boulder walling containing some drill-split stones were exposed adjacent to the huts.
SX 66828401 Hut measures 6.7m in diameter, with walls 0.8m wide, 1.1m high. Entrance to SE. Unexcavated.

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

Hut circle depicted on the digital survey information. A group of three Bronze Age hut circles and cairn with tudor secondary occupation. The huts have large upright slabs of up to 1.1 metres high. Their diameters range from 6.7 to 9.8 metres.

Richards, A. F., 2011, Untitled Source (Personal Comment). SDV259692.

Unclear which circle this record refers to as the grid reference on the original record does not match any of the known hut circles indicated in the other sources. Has been assumed to refer to the most south-westerly circle of the group (as there is no other record for this circle).

Newman, P., 2013, The Archaeology of Fernworthy Forest, Dartmoor, Devon. Supplement. The Lakeside Area and Lowton Farmsteads, 8, Fig. 18 (Report - Survey). SDV356884.

Part of a dispersed prehistoric settlement on the northern slope of Metherel, south of the modern reservoir. It now sits just below the high water line of the reservoir but for some reason was not excavated by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in the 1930s in advance of the reservoir's construction. The walls are constructed from a single ring of randomly shaped boulders. The internal diameter is between 6.6 and 7.3 metres and the stones stand up to 1.1 metres high. Unlike the others in the group, this hut does not appear to have been terraced into the slope. There is a possible entrance on the eastern side.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6533 - Archaeological Survey of South-West Lakeside Trust Land around Fernworthy Reservoir
• EDV8514 - Excavation at Metherall huts, Chagford
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project

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