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Summary

Submerged hut circle of 7.2 metres diameter with walls 1.0 metres wide by 1.0 metres high and an entrance to the south-east 450 metres west-north-west of Metherall farmstead at Fernworthy Reservoir. Seen in 1995 when the water level of reservoir was low. Excavation recovered pot boilers, flints, pottery sherds from at least two vessels, charcoal and a possible whetstone from the Bronze Age . This hut was re-used as a tin store and workshop in the early 16th century as a layer of tin slag mixed with charcoal and pottery was found

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/82/1
• Old SAM County Ref: 610

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HUT CIRCLE (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• TINNERS HUT? (XV to Post Medieval - 1401 AD (Between) to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

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

Central of a group of three 'Hut Circles' shown on 19th century map.

Worth, R. H., 1937, Thirteenth Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 143-147, Figs, 1, 2, Pl. 22-25 (Article in Serial). SDV256641.

Excavated in 1934 (?) Hut circle number 4 on plan; usual type. The entrance was towards the south, clearly marked by the riser still in place. Walls are of normal type, except that part to the west of the entrance has been reconstructed at some time. Unusual depth of soil over the hut floor, about 0.6 meters. Charcoal, broken earthenware of Tudor period and some slag found above the hut floor; secondary occupation by tinners, as in Hut 3 nearby.
Near and on floor level were charcoal, fragments of bronze age pottery, flint chip and one or two potboilers. No defined hearth or cooking hole found. 14 pieces of flint found, all showing evidence of use. Dark grey flint, with brown shades and on piece of translucent cherty flint. Not formal implements or tools, but were used. The Bronze Age pottery represents at least two vessels. Part of the flat bottom of a vessel; the angle the side makes with the bottom is 73 degrees. A fragment of the body of a vessel indicates an outside diameter of 137 millimetres, the thickness of the material being 673 millimetres. A markedly everted rim has an outside diameter of 137 millimetres, and the internal diameter of the pot at the neck was 114 millimetres. The thickness of the ware is 57 millimetres at the rim and 64 millimetres at the neck. All the ware is lightly baked, red on the outside, black on the inner surface, probably from carbonaceous matter, and mostly grey in the body of the ware. The clay contains a fair proportion of sand, none from Dartmoor streams.
Two small pieces of ruddle were found on the floor. Fragment of grit apparently part of a whetstone. Pottery of a later date is very thin, mean thickness 4 millimetres; bright red, little added sand in the clay and is wheel brown. 3-4 vessels represented. One is a mug which has spots of yellow glaze, outside diameter of base 133 millimetres. A portion of the rim of a larger basin shaped vessel of drab earthenware, outside diameter of 203 millimetres, thickness of ware at rim is 708 millimetres, and in the body below the rim is 500 millimetres.
Ten broken pieces of slag were found. Analysis done. All these features are now below the water-line of Fernworthy Reservoir.

Worth, R. H., 1940, The Dartmoor Blowing House, 213 (Article in Serial). SDV154693.

Secondary usage by tinners noted - for stores, shelters or possibly dwellings.

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

(22/10/1952) All these features are now below the water-line of Fernworthy Reservoir.

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

Hut circle '4' of 7.5 meters in diameter the central of a group of three huts on the southern edge of Fernworthy Reservoir. Excavation recovered pot boilers, flints, pottery sherds from at least two vessels, charcoal and a possible whetstone. This hut was re-used as a tin store and workshop in the early 16th century as a layer of tin slag mixed with charcoal and pottery was found above the Bronze Age floor level.

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 66828402 Hut measures 7.2m in diameter, with walls 1.0m wide, 1.1m high. Entrance to SE. Excavated.

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

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.

Newman, P., 2013, The Archaeology of Fernworthy Forest, Dartmoor, Devon. Supplement. The Lakeside Area and Lowton Farmsteads, 9-10, Figs. 5, 8, 10, 18 (Report - Survey). SDV356884.

This hut, now submerged beneath the reservoir, was excavated by worth in 1936. Worth commented that the walls were of 'usual type' but it had been previously observed that one side of the walls were laid in courses. About 75 percent of the walls survive in situ (the hut is exposed when reservoir levels are low) comprising end to end edge set slabls and some irregular boulders forming a circle about 7.3 metres diameter and remaining to just under 1.0 metres high. There is a probable entrance in the south-east quadrant. The large amount of fallen stone surrounding the circle is probably the remains of the coursed walls described by earlier writers.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV5589 - FLINT (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC)
• FDV5587 - SHERD (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC)
• FDV5588 - SHERD (XVI - 1501 AD to 1600 AD)

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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