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Summary

Prehistoric settlement on the right bank of the West Dart River, north east of Rough Tor. The settlement two enclosures attached to each other at one point. The northern enclosure is the earliest and contains at least three stone hut circles. The southern enclosure walling links together three hut circles. Both enclosures are defined by rubble walling, while the hut circles survive as banks surrounding a circular or oval internal area. Four of the huts were excavated in 1898 by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee and finds recovered from the hut circles included charcoal, pottery, burnt stone, flint scrapers, cooking stones and an arrowhead. South of the settlement is a small cairn.

Summary from record MDV61964:
Agglomerated enclosure forming part of a prehistoric settlement 460m north-east of Rough Tor. At least two complete agglomerated enclosures composed of rubble walling standing up to 0.6m high and 2m wide.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1019571: Enclosed stone hut circle settlement and cairn 460m north east of Rough Tor

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX68SW39
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 443980
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SW/8
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68SW/8/7
• Old SAM Ref: 24109
• Old SAM Ref: 24109

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Baring Gould, S., 1898, 5th Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, 104 (Article in Serial). SDV265401.

West Dart Head; four small hut circles (diameter 4.3m, wall width 610mm) on the east slope of the hill between Horse Hole Bottom and West Dart Head. Also ruins of small paddocks. All four huts were examined, but only one gave results: it has a ruined wall and dilapidated entrance facing south south west. The floor of the hut resting on calm was 420mm below the surface. Finds: charcoal, rotten fragments of pottery, 8 cooking stones, two flint scrapers and a flint arrowhead of barbed and tanged variety with one barb missing.

Ralegh Radford, C. A., 1952 /1953, Prehistoric Settlements on Dartmoor and the Cornish Moors, 68, 77, 82 (Article in Serial). SDV337080.

All four huts in this group were excavated yet only one hut, 4.2m internal diameter produced pottery and a barbed and tanged arrowhead. The settlement was the result of a middle bronze age expansion on to the higher moors.

National Monument Record, 1969, SX6179, 3/55-68 (Aerial Photograph). SDV267882.

National Monuments Record, 1979, SF1509, 427/344 (Aerial Photograph). SDV262885.

SX 60878021. An enclosure, some 60.0m by 30.0m, with attached and internal huts, is visible on the air photographs.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX68SW39 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV253205.

(30/10/1979) An open settlement situated at 495m OD on an east-facing slope above the West Dart River, The only practicable site on this part of the valley. There is a thick growth of peat in the area and only four hut circles and two small fields are visible with traces of a third. The huts are of Type 1 (SX 56 SE 19) with internal diameters from 2.9m to 3.6m, and rubble walling 0.8m to 1.0m thick, averaging 0.3m high. The hut at SX 60858020 has the only visible entrance, this to the south west, and the only hut in fair condition is at SX 60868024. The two sub-rectangular fields measure 27m by 32m and 31m by 37m. They are contiguous with rubble walling incorporating in situ boulders, averaging 0.3m high and 1.1m wide. Due to a build-up of peat on the upper sides, parts of the walls appear as lynchets.
(See also SX 68 SW 19).
Surveyed at 1:10,000 on MSD. See ground photograph.

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

Enclosure with two elements/fields, with a third possible element visible on 1969 NMR aerial photo. Only one internal hut circle visible. Another visible outside the enclosures.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1987-1993, Duchy Farms Project Survey Visit (Report - Survey). SDV350839.

(04/12/1994) Four hut circles, a cairn and associated enclosures lie on the west bank of the West Dart River, 500m northeast of Rough Tor, centred at SX 60868022. The settlement lies on a level shelf at the bottom of a steep, east-facing slope and, at 500m OD, is one of the highest prehistoric settlements in central Dartmoor.
The hut circles lie within, or close to, two enclosures. These two enclosures share a central wall. The northern enclosure, approximately 38m N-S and 30m E-W. The southern enclosure is incomplete, its western side may have been disturbed by the dry leat channel (SX 68 SW 134) which cuts the settlement. The hut at SX 60858020 has a small enclosure, approximately 5m square on its northern side. A small cairn lies some 18m south of the settlement, at SX 60888018. The small, stony mound measures 3.2m N-S, 3.4m E-W and is 0.35m high.
For further details on the hut circles see the NRHE project archive.
The site was excavated in 1898 by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee. All of the hut circles were examined, finds were recovered from one of them, probably that at SX 60858020. These included charcoal, pottery, burnt stone, two flint scrapers and a barbed and tanged arrowhead.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 152415, 152421 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(20/03/1998) Agglomerated enclosure forming part of a prehistoric settlement 460m north-east of Rough Tor. At least two complete agglomerated enclosures composed of rubble walling standing up to 0.6m high and 2m wide.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 62, Map 29, Settlement 8 (Monograph). SDV219155.

Settlement '8' at 500 metres above sea level is one of the highest on the moor on rising ground less than 50 metres from the river. A tinners' leat cuts across the uphill edge of the settlement close to four of the five hut circles of between 2.5 to 4.3 metres diameter. Four of the huts were 'explored' in 1898 but only one produced any artefacts. This one hut produced fragments of pottery, cooking stones, charcoal and some flints, including two scrapers and a tanged and barbed arrowhead. The others show comparatively little sign of disturbance and may not have been thoroughly excavated which may explain the lack of finds.

Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England, 1993-1998, Dartmoor Royal Forest Project (Report - Survey). SDV346608.

(1994) 1:2500 GPS survey.

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

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV5916 - BARBED AND TANGED ARROWHEAD (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
• FDV5914 - COOKING STONE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC?)
• FDV7895 - FLAKE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC)
• FDV5915 - SCRAPER (TOOL) (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC?)
• FDV5913 - SHERD (Bronze Age - 2200 BC to 701 BC?)

Associated Events

• EDV8526 - Hut settlement excavated, Lydford
• EDV8530 - Excavation at West Dart Head
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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