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Summary

A group of at least 20 freestanding hut circles occupy both the broad shelf and lower south-eastern slopes of the valley of the Lade Hill Brook below Sittaford Tor. Six huts are fairly substantial however the majority are small and rather ragged. The group probably represents the remains of a permanent unenclosed prehistoric settlement; it is similar to other hut groups in the vicinity of the broad sited valley, which forms a major topographical feature of the open moorland.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1018708: A partially enclosed stone hut circle settlement 670m south of The Grey Wethers

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SE140
• National Monuments Record: SX68SW18
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1431848
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443939
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SW/37
• Old SAM Ref: 28681

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Baring Gould, S., 1898, Fifth Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 112-3 (Article in Serial). SDV337066.

A barrow 700 yards south of Grey Wethers (SX 68 SW 1) (which plots somewhere amongst the hut circles). It measures 16ft diameter and 9 ins high. Excavations in 1897/8 exposed a pit containing a little charcoal.

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1995, 3365-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDV224714.

Hut circles visible. Barrow not visible.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1951, SX68SW18, SX68SW18 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV242901.

(14/09/1951) Group of fourteen hut circles.
SX 63828252. Hut circle A: Double-walled type, turf covered with entrance SE side. Diameter 4.5m, height 0.5m.
SX 63838254. Hut circle B: Double-walled type. Diameter 4.0m, height 0.5m, width of wall 1.25m. Turf-covered.
SX 63868252. Hut circle C: Double-walled type, mostly buried under turf. Diameter 4.0m, height 0.25m, wall-width 1.25m.
SX 63888253. Hut circle D: Probably double-walled type and was built with some rather large blocks of granite now much tumbled about. Diameter 5.0m, height 0.5m.
SX 63888256. Hut circle E: Double-walled type, turf-covered; entrance probably at the south-east. Diameter 3.0m, wall width 1.25m, height 0.3m.
SX 63898256. Hut circle F: Double-walled type, turf-covered. Diameter 3.5m, height 0.5m, wall-width 1.25m. Entrance possibly on the SE side.
SX 63918255. Hut circle G: Remains of double-walled type, only the eastern half remains. Turf-covered. Diameter approximately 3.0m, height 0.25m, wall-width 1.25m.
SX 63928256. Hut circle H: Double-walled type, robbed of a few stones. Partly turf-covered. A large granite block stands by the entrance on the SE side. Diameter 4.0m, height 0.5m, wall-width 1.25m.
SX 63928254. Hut circle J: Probably double-walled type, now completely covered by turf except for one or two large blocks of granite. Diameter 4.0m, average height 0.3m.
SX 63948255. Hut circle K: Double-walled type, mostly covered. Diameter 4.0m, wall-width 1.25m, height 0.3m.
SX 63948250. Hut circle L: Double-walled type, the wall including some very large granite blocks, but mostly turf-covered. Diameter 5.0m, height 0.5m, wall-width 1.25m.
SX 63958250. Hut circle M: Remains of double-walled type, close to the west side of hut circle 'N', in poor condition with some stones removed. Diameter 4.0m, average height 0.3m, wall-width 1.25m.
SX 63978250. Hut circle N: Double-walled type, mostly turf-covered. There is a possible entrance on the south side. Diameter 5.0m, height 0.5m, wall-width 1.25m.
SX 63998250. Hut circle P: Double-walled type. Mostly turf and heather covered. Diameter 5.0m, height 0.5m, wall-width 1.0m.
The hut circles are correct as shown on 6" field sheet.

Fleming, A., 1979, The Dartmoor Reaves. Boundary Patterns and Behaviour Patterns in the Second Millennium BC, 127 (Article in Serial). SDV258579.

Suggested that this is an example of a summer site converted to a permanent site.

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

Not visible on Royal Air Force 1947 arial photographs.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit, M, Fletcher (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(17/08/1990) Centred SX 63908253. A group of at least twenty freestanding hut circles occupy both the broad shelf and lower SE slopes of the valley of the Lade Hill Brook below Sittaford Tor at 453m OD.
Six huts are fairly substantial however the majority are small and rather ragged. Two are contiguous and two appear squarish in plan. A short length of a wall links four huts otherwise no associated walling or field plots are visible in the area. The surrounding hillside is covered by a thick layer of peat which may hide archaeological features.
The group probably represents the remains of a permanent unenclosed prehistoric settlement; it is similar to other hut groups in the vicinity of the broad sited valley, which forms a major topographical feature of the open moorland. (See SX 68 SW 3, 115).
The barrow was not identified within the hut group; it may however, in its disturbed (excavated) state now be indistinguishable from one of the huts.
A further table of information on the settlement is held in the NRHE archive.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 144200 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(09/09/1997) See related records for detail.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 158, Map 35, Site 9 (Monograph). SDV219155.

'Lade Hill Brook settlement' with about fifteen huts grouped closely together found immediately south of the damp ground on the west side of Lade Hill Brook. All the huts are small of 3 metres to 4 metres across and most of them have little more than the tops of their walls showing above the turf. The only trace of associated fields is a short run of slabs between the uphill pair of huts

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

The hut circles shown on survey are all to the north of the huts shown on modern mapping and the latter seem to be closer to the features visible on aerial photographs. Also the huts shown on the survey lie to the north of the Scheduled area.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

Group of 'Hut Circles' shown on modern mapping.

Historic England, 2023, National Heritage List for England, 1018708 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365228.

The monument, which falls into three areas, includes a partially enclosed stone hut circle settlement lying in Great Stannon Newtake and situated on a steep slope overlooking an unnamed tributary of the East Dart River. An enclosure lies on the western edge of the settlement and survives as an irregular shaped area measuring 40 metres long by 20 metres wide defined by a 1.3 metres wide rubble bank standing up to 0.3 metres high. Three stone hut circles are linked to the enclosure walling indicating that the enclosure was added sometime after the huts were built. The remaining huts lie to the east and south and all appear to be unenclosed, although their linear distribution may suggest that they too were once linked by a boundary which now survives as a buried feature. The stone hut circles within the settlement all survive as banks each surrounding a circular or oval internal area which varies from 4.52 square metres to 22.55 square metres. The height of the surrounding walls varies between 0.3 metres and 0.75 metres. Eleven of the huts have visible doorways, one has a porch, another has a bench and four are conjoined. The walls themselves vary in character, but the rubble bank and orthostatic construction techniques are both represented.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8650 - Great Stannon Newtake, Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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