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Summary

Group of three hut circles in a sub-circular enclosure which has been cut by an internal subdivision wall on the Widow's Tenement medieval enclosure. Probably of Bronze Age or Iron Age date.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1017646: The Widow's Tenement medieval settlement and prehistoric settlement sites, Lundy

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS14NW/31
• Old SAM County Ref: 736
• Old SAM Ref: 30357
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SS14NW/SW6

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HUT CIRCLE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Langham, A. + M., 1960, Untitled Source, 5, 82 (Monograph). SDV6870.

Excavated during 1952 and 1954, by schoolboys who found some Neolithic, and Early Bronze Age worked flints. Traces of the enclosure wall of Widow's Tenement run across the hut circle which is difficult to find probably robbed.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1962 - 1979, SS14NW/SW6 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV344058.

Site visit 18th May 1962. The hut circle, 1.7 metres internal diameter, with an entrance in the north-east side, lies within small enclosure which appears to be contemporary with it, and with the old field bank it adjoins, a subdivision of the large enclosure known as Widow's Tenement. The hut circle which is constructed of earth and stones with some stone revetting internally, is in poor condition. Within the enclosure are meandering lynchets with occasional stone slabs, presumably the remains of earlier Iron Age field boundaries.
The hut circle appears to be contemporary with a sub-division wall of the enclosure around the Widow's Tenement farmstead. If this is correct the hut circle may be of 13th-14th century date. Alternatively, the farm buildings must stand within enclosure walls which are wholly contemporary with the earlier hut circle. Other details: Annotated maps.

Cambridge University, 1974, CUC/RC8, AR 256-7 (Aerial Photograph). SDV342259.

National Trust, 1989, Lundy, Devon. Vol. One, 24 (Report - Survey). SDV1275.

Traces of two hut circles lie within a small enclosure. The easternmost partly underlies the later bank of Widows Tenement. Langham implies that its walls may have been robbed to build Threequarter Wall . Shown clearly on Ordnance Survey map of 1884 suggesting that parts of the enclosure walls were still standing. The second hut circle is very small, circa 3 metres maximum diameter, but with a clear rim of stone. A third, larger, possible hut circle lies just outside the enclosure to the west. Other details: 101, 040.

Claris, P. D. + Thackray, D. W. R., 1990, Historic Landscape Survey of Lundy: 1st interim report, 28,31 (Article in Serial). SDV6856.

Widows Tenement subdivision bank cuts and overlies a sub-circular stone enclosure bank, containing three hut circles which survive as earthworks up to circa 0.4 metres high, with average internal diameters of 1 metre.

National Trust, 1998, The National Trust Sites and Monuments Record. Compressed Site Reports. Lundy. SMR Sites Nos 108000-108150, 108077 (Report - non-specific). SDV344688.

Sub-circular enclosure containing three hut circles. The enclosing wall is 'D' -shaped, consisting of a low earthen bank with some stones visible, circa 2 metres wide by circa 0.85 metres high. An internal wall of the Widow's Tenement enclosure cuts through the centre of the hut circle complex, and all three hut circles lie on the northern side. It is possible they may have been robbed for stone for its construction. The western, central hut circle is best preserved on its western side, the north-east side is disturbed. Internal diameter circa 2.5 metres, circular in shape. The north-easterly hut circle is incomplete, with its north side missing. It is sub-rectangular in form with a diameter of circa 1.5 metres and its banks are 0.85 metres wide by 0.15 metres high. This hut circle shares the south wall of the south-east hut circle, which is heavily disturbed by the building of the later (possibly 18th century) internal wall. It has a diameter of 2 metres and its banks are 1.3 metres wide and 0.15 metres high.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 1998, The Widow's Tenement Medieval Settlement and Prehistoric Settlement Sites, Lundy (Schedule Document). SDV6930.

The monument includes a diamond-shaped enclosure of about 7 hectares within which are the remains of huts, cairns and associated field
systems of Bronze Age and Iron Age date. Across the south-eastern end of the enclosure is a substantial bank and ditch from an earlier field system. Several large terraced field headlands, known as lynchets, cross the interior and these are generally attributed the Iron Age period. Close to the southern boundary, at the western end of the bank and ditch are the remains of a hut circle settlement with two huts and an enclosing wall. This is similar to Bronze Age settlements elsewhere on Lundy. This enclosure is partly cut by the bank and ditch and therefore pre-dates its construction.

National Trust, 2002, The Archaeology and Landscape of Lundy: A Field Guide (Monograph). SDV7235.

English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009: South West, 118 (Report - non-specific). SDV342694.

Generally satisfactory but with significant localised problems. Principal vulnerability plant growth.

Ordnance Survey, 2010, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV344030.

English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011: South West, 112 (Report - non-specific). SDV355280.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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