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Summary

One of two Bronze Age hut circles on Horridge Common with an enclosure between them. Attached to the south side of a cross reave. The hut is has a diameter of 4.8 metres and the walls include some large boulders but it has suffered much at the hands of the modern wall builders when most of the masonry on the north-eastern arc of the wall was removed. This site was excavated by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in 1897, when pottery, flint and slate artefacts were retrieved, though the work here was never completed. Surveyed at 1:200 scale May 2015.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019603: Coaxial fields, prehistoric settlements and cairns on Halshanger and Horridge Commons, forming part of the Rippon Tor coaxial field system
• SHINE: Earthworks and stone walls of a Bronze Age parallel reave system on Mountsland, Halshanger and Horridge Commons, comprising the remains of a field system, hut circle settlements, enclosures and cairns, and surface remains of 19th century Hemsworthy Mine

Other References/Statuses

• MPP Archaeological Item Dataset: 152303
• National Monuments Record: SX77SE3
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 445202
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX77SE/2/2
• Old SAM County Ref: 930
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX77SE3

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Baring Gould, S., 1897, Fourth Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 156 (Article in Serial). SDV337081.

Small group of huts lying close to the corner of newtake wall separating Horridge and Halsanger Common. Two huts only examined. Hut 1 yielded traces of charcoal from the floor, which was unusually deep; two broken grit rubber stones; one flint flake used as a knife or scraper; a flint spall; 2 or 3 pieces of grey slate; portions of a blue slate disc with edges ground down. Very large stones in this circle. Hut 2; large with stones of considerable size. No charcoal but fragments of red pottery found.

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

Fox, A., 1954, Celtic Fields and Farms on Dartmoor in Light of Recent Excavations at Kestor, 87 (Article in Serial). SDV231175.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1960, SX77SE3 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV315165.

(17/05/1960) There are two hut circles at SX 7504 7484 and SX 7504 7480 and between them a quadrilateral enclosure or pound (at SX 7505 7482).
A 25" survey has been made.

Gawne, E. + Somers Cockes, J. V., 1968, Parallel Reaves of Dartmoor, 286-7 (Article in Serial). SDV345858.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., 152303 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

Site visit April 1999. Stone hut circle within coaxial fields on Halsanger Common. Diameter 4.9 metres. Double orthostat wall 1.2 metres wide, 1.2 metres high. A 130 degree gap may represent a doorway. Grass and bracken.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume One - The East, 40, Fig. 5.1 (Monograph). SDV299725.

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

Hut circle is clearly visible on the 2010 aerial photography.

Newman, P., 2013, An Archaeological Assessment of Halshanger and Horridge Commons, Dartmoor, Devon, 7, Table 1 (Report - Assessment). SDV356396.

One of two hut circles excavated by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee in 1886. As a result the floor has been lowered. Finds included pottery and stone and flint artefacts. Condition stable.

Newman, P., 2013, Halshanger Sites Visited and Confirmed (Report - Survey). SDV351113.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

Hut circle is depicted on the modern mapping.

English Heritage, 2014, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV355683.

Part of the Rippon Tor coaxial field system.

Newman, P., 2015, Rippon Tor Premier Archaeological Landscape, Dartmoor National Park, Devon, 50 (Report - Survey). SDV359145.

Hut circle south of enclosure on Halsanger Common. Attached to the south side of a cross reave. The hut is has a diameter of 4.8m and the walls include some large boulders but it has suffered much at the hands of the modern wall builders when most of the masonry on the NE arc of the wall was removed. This site was excavated by the DEC in 1897, when pottery, flint and slate artefacts were retrieved, though the work here was never completed. Surveyed at 1:200 scale May 2015 (Fig 29). Condition is stable. Evidence of antiquarian investigation. SX75046 74805

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording forms, RT25 (Worksheet). SDV362781.

(31/12/2019) Condition recorded as moderate. Path nearby. Some bracken growth. Gorse and bracken in the surrounding area.

Various, 2018-2020, PALs Condition Recording photographs (Photograph). SDV363073.

Image taken during the December 2019 visit.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV5934 - SHERD (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC)

Associated Events

• EDV6433 - Assessment of Halsanger Common, Horridge Common and Rippon Tor
• EDV6836 - Rippon Tor Premier Archaeological Landscape survey
• EDV8589 - Excavation of huts on Halshanger / Horridge Common

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