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Summary

Stock enclosure pound within the Prehistoric settlement to the north-east of Holwell Tor
The pound survives in good condition with substantial walls of up to 2.5 metres thick and constructed from granite, now mostly turf-covered.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Earthworks and surviving stone walls of a prehistoric settlement including hut circles and a parallel reave field system to the north-east of Holwell Tor
• Scheduled Monument 1002530: Pound NE of Holwell Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX77NE10
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 445005
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX77NE/13
• Old SAM County Ref: 451

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSURE (Constructed, Early Bronze Age to Late Iron Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 42 AD (Between))

Full description

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

Circular feature shown as 'Hut Circle' on 19th century map.

Victoria County History, 1906, The Victoria History of the County of Devon, 628 (Article in Serial). SDV238214.

Enclosure pound north-east of Holwell Tor.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1960, SX77NE10 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV282866.

(26/04/1960) The oval enclosure at SX 7528 7780 is on a north-west slope, built up to form a platform with a fairly level interior. Its perimeter consists of banked earth and stones averaging 0.7m. high, with two gaps, either one or both of which may have been entrances. A number of stones form a poorly defined circle in the southern part of the enclosure and may represent a hut site.
Two huts with single wall construction averaging 0.4m. high are at SX 7532 7782 and SX 7539 7774. The entrance to the former is not discernible.
A hut circle with double wall construction up to 0.8m. high, but with no visible entrance, is at SX 7539 7759.
A field system bounded by fragmentary stony banks and apparently contemporary with the pound and huts is centred at SX 7537 7772.
A 25" survey has been made of pound and hut circles.

English Heritage, 1969-1989, English Heritage Records Office SAM Record (Un-published). SDV349864.

Pound north-east of Holwell Tor. The scheduled area contains a small part of the Rippon Tor parallel reave system with a circular Prehistoric enclosure and several hut circles. The enclosure is circa 30 metres diameter with marked lynchetting and on the south side is a fragmentary hut circle with interior diameter of 5 metres. North-east of this is a hut circle of interior diameter 6-7 metres. The walls are about 1 metre wide and 0.5 metres high with no clear entrance and some loose stone in the centre. Parallel reaves traverse the area on a north-west to south-east axis with subsidiary cross reaves.

National Monument Record, 1977, NMR SX7577, 1 (Aerial Photograph). SDV282979.

Photograph taken on 14th April 1977.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1985, Aerial Photograph Project (Dartmoor) - Dartmoor Pre-NMP, 1 (Cartographic). SDV319854.

Ovoid enclosure visible on aerial photograph.

Everett, C., 1988, Haytor Down - Summary of Archaeological Features, HD71, Map 6 (Report - Survey). SDV359684.

Newman, P., 1999, 2002, Haytor Down, Ilsington, Devon (Revised), 9, Figure 4 (Report - Survey). SDV346395.

(20/02/1999) Centred SX 7536 7779. A field system attached to an E-W reave (part of the Haytor & Saddle Tor parallel reave system [SX 77 NE 31]), and an ovoid enclosure or stock pound.
The site consists of two rectangular enclosures, one with a hut circle, attached to the N side of an E - W reave. An isolated, ovoid stock pound 0f 0.29ha was added but later still a more irregular enclosure wall was constructed on the N side which engrossed all the earlier elements, covering a total area of 1.8ha. This in turn was sub-divided giving additional internal compartments on the E end and a semi-circular enclosure was attached to the western exterior.
A hut circle is located in the corner of the smaller of the primary enclosures at SX 7540 7774. It has an internal diameter of 7.3m with spread walls 2.3m thick and a maximum of 0.6m high. A second unattached hut circle at SX 7532 7782 has internal measurements of 8,2m by 7.3m. It has a level interior and turf-covered walls incorporating several large boulders, though several are displaced.
The condition of the site as a whole is poor having suffered extensive disturbance by later stone cutting. The interior is littered with stone cutting pits and debris and the enclosure walls have been partially robbed. The ovoid stock pound survives in the best condition with substantial walls of up to 2.5m thick and constructed from granite, now mostly turf-covered.
Depicted and described by Butler (1991). For plan see RCHME 1999.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 2002, Haytor Down: The Archaeology (Plan - measured). SDV359685.

Oval feature shown on survey.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7021 - Haytor Down: Survey Report (Ref: A1/2/1999)

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