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Summary

A well-preserved oval enclosure which has incorporated sections of the Tunhill outcrop within its circuit. It contains one large hut circle (MDV43228). Excavated by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in 1896. Surveyed in May 2015.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1003286: Hut circle at Tunhill Rocks
• SHINE: Earthworks and walling remains of a Bronze Age coaxial field system around Pil Tor with remains of reaves, enclosures, hut circle settlements including Foales Arrishes, continuing south onto Blackslade Down

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX77NW/22
• Old SAM County Ref: 353
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSED HUT CIRCLE SETTLEMENT (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Griffith, F. M., 16/12/1988, DAP/JZ, 1-3 (Aerial Photograph). SDV241570.

Baring Gould, S., 1897, Fourth Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 148-150 plate 1,2 (Article in Serial). SDV337081.

Ralegh Radford, C. A., 1952, Prehistoric Settlements on Dartmoor and the Cornish Moors, 63-64,80-81 (Article in Serial). SDV337080.

Two hut circles visible with internal diameters 3.0 metres and 7.0 metres. The larger hut, when excavated, produced remains of one third of a pot.

Fox, A., 1958, Twenty-Fourth Report on the Archaeology and Early History of Devon, 216-218 (Article in Serial). SDV341823.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1960, SX77NW35 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV308345.

(Visited 12/5/1960) No discernible entrances to the huts and the modern break in the southern corner of the pound still retains stones at ground level. A small pound approximately 24 metres by 24 metres much ruined by medieval and later cultivation.

National Monument Record, 1977, SX7375, 4 (Aerial Photograph). SDV308312.

Beeson, M. M. R. + Masterman, M. C. H., 1979, An Archaeological Survey of Enclosed Land in Widecombe-In-The-Moor Parish, Vol V, 1050 (Report - Survey). SDV337078.

Silvester, R. J., 1979, The Relationship of First Millennium Settlement to the Upland Areas of the South West, 180 (Article in Serial). SDV177352.

The south-west portion of the enclosure has been straightened to fit the later field walls. Condition fair, in deep bracken. Trevisker-style pottery remains found on site of prehistoric settlement at Tunhill Rocks, Widecombe.

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

A single hut circle is visible within a sub-circular enclosure on the south-east side of Tunhill Rocks. The enclosure is attached, in turn, to a sub-rectangular field or enclosure forming part of a parallel reave system on the south-east.

Fletcher, M. J., 1991, Blackslade Down features (Worksheet). SDV303118.

Generally well preserved. Walling on west side tumbled, but elsewhere well defined, 1.6 metre wide by 0.5 metres high. Well worn paths run through two gaps in the wall. Relationship with field system MDV43230 to the south-east is unclear.

GeoInformation Group Ltd, 2010, 1:625 2010 Colour (12.5cm resolution) (Aerial Photograph). SDV346026.

Circular feature shown on aerial photograph. Map object based on this source.

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

Enclosure and one hut circle depicted on the modern mapping.

English Heritage, 2015, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV357602.

A single hut in a roughly circular stone walled enclosure (Detail from Schedule, estimated 1950).

Newman , P., 2015, Rippon Tor Premier Archaeological Landscape, Dartmoor National Park, Devon, 17-18, 48, fig 14-16 (Report - Survey). SDV359145.

A well-preserved oval enclosure which has incorporated sections of the Tunhill outcrop within its circuit. It contains one large hut circle (MDV43228). Excavated by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in 1896. Surveyed at 1:500 scale May 2015.
Condition is stable. Evidence of antiquarian intervention.

Various, 2018-2019, PALs Condition Recording forms, RT57 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

Visited 15/08/2019. Although covered in bracken in most places, the enclosure banks are are in good visible condition and well defined - see the photo taken. Stable condition

Various, 2018-2019, PALs Condition Recording photographs, RT57 (Photograph). SDV363073.

Visited 15/08/2019. Photo looking south west towards the north east. The enclosure bank showing a lovely stretch of double orthostat construction

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6836 - Rippon Tor Premier Archaeological Landscape survey

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.