See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Three Bronze Age hut circles and a small field system are visible. Two of the hut circles are very close together with entrances almost facing each other, opening up to the SE and SW respectively. These are both slightly cut into the hillside to a depth of approximately 1.40 metres. Another hut circle is set apart from these and has an entrance to the SE. The small field system sits to the west and is thought to be associated with the hut circles. It is identifiable from the presence of slight lynchets.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Bronze Age settlement consisting of three unenclosed hut circles to the south of Greator Rocks

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX77NW31
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 445105
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX77NW/75
• Old SAM Ref Revised: 28786
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX77NW31

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

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

Two 'Hut Circles' shown on 19th century map.

Burnard, R., 1906, Early Man, 628 (Article in Monograph). SDV322231.

Hut Circles [O.E.] ['A' SX 7489 7841 and 'B' SX 7490 7841].

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1960, SX77NW31, Settlement (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV345708.

(10/05/1960) Hut Circles near Becka Brook.
'A' and 'B' are double walled huts, the N.W. sides scooped into the hillside to a depth of 1.4m. and the lower S.E. sides correspondingly built up. 'A' incorporates a large outcrop boulder and has a probable entrance to the S.E. The entrance to 'B' is to the S.W.
Another hut 'C' at SX 7480 7836 is of similar situation and construction with an entrance to the S.E.
A 25" survey has been made. Ground photograph - see AO/53/69/1.
A small field system lies to the west of the huts and is possibly associated. It is ill-defined and consists of a series of very slight lynchets on a rocky S.E. slope. The system is centred at SX 7470 7843.

Royal Air Force, 1964, RAF 58/6399, F61 58, 0014-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDV225229.

('A'-SX 7489 7841; 'B'-SX 7490 7841; 'C'-SX 7480 7836) Hut Circles (N.R.).

National Monuments Record, 1977, SX7478 (Aerial Photograph). SDV345710.

Griffith, F. M., 1985, DAP/EO, 4 (Aerial Photograph). SDV307278.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, SX77NW (Cartographic). SDV345445.

Three hut circles visible two of which are attached to one another, at SX74807837, SX74897841 and SX74907841 (the latter two are attached). The field system is not visible.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume One - The East, 53 (Monograph). SDV299725.

Three huts within the present fields on the hillside above Becka Brook. The huts are large with diameters of circa 8.5 metres and walls composed of large slabs. The eastern pair were built against a group of natural boulders. The single hut perched on a knoll serves as a dump for small stones collected from the field. The enclosures once associated with the huts have disappeared. Other details: Map 8, Site 4.

Gerrard, S., 2004, List of Sites Remaining to be Considered for Designation on Dartmoor (Un-published). SDV345444.

Stone hut circle Settlement south of Greator Rocks was considered for designation as a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 2004.. Other details: Number 32.

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

Three 'Hut Circles' shown on modern mapping.

White, P., 2013, Previously Unsurveyed Dartmoor Historic Farmsteads, Greator 2 (Un-published). SDV352501.

Greator 2 a deserted settlement.

Historic England, 2021-2022, NRHE to HER website, Accessed 08/07/2022 (Website). SDV364039.

[1045778 / SX77NW96]
(19/06/1995) SX 745 787 Houndtor Down, a complex multi-period landscape recognised by Beresford (1979). The 80ha of down contain a possible tor enclosure and Bronze Age settlement and sepulchral monuments overlain by Medieval and later field systems in which lie two deserted medieval settlements. There is evidence for tin extraction and stone removal on the western and northern flanks of the down. (Beresford, G., 1979, pgs 95-158).
SX 74517884. A partly enclosed Bronze Age stone hut circle settlement and its associated field system situated on the upper slopes of Hound Tor overlooking the valley of the Becka Brook. The hut circle settlement consists of at least eight huts and two enclosures. Lying south of the settlement is an extensive field system including three major fields and an enclosure. Scheduled.
NB: this settlement description doesn't appear to match this site, but there are no others in the vicinity that it could be referring to. May need assigning to a different record if clarification is obtained in future [Richards, A. F., 08/07/2022].

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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