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Summary

Eastern of two hut circles set 45 metres apart to the north-west of Powder Mills. Hut of 5.2 metres diameter with walls 1 metre wide and 0.3 metres high

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1016638: A partially enclosed stone hut circle settlement, two cairns containing cists and a post-medieval building 440m NNW of Powder Mills

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX67NW17
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 442558
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX67NW/116
• Old SAM County Ref: 917
• Old SAM Ref: 28721

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• (Former Type) CAIRN CIRCLE (Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))
• HUT CIRCLE (Constructed, Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

'Hut Circle' shown on early 20th century map.

Breton, H. H., 1926, The Heart of Dartmoor, Morwenstow, 34-5 (Monograph). SDV265360.

Worth, R. H., 1938, 57th Report of the Barrow Committee, 61 (Article in Serial). SDV320309.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card, 1950/1953, SX67NW17 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV263617.

(06/08/1950) Stone circle, condition quite good. Diameter 5.5m, with 3m gap in circumference on north-west side. In all 16 stones standing and prone.
Probably a hut not a cairn (A. Fox, OS correspondence, 1953).

Ancient Monuments, 1972, Hut circle north-west of Powder Mills (Report - Survey). SDV214772.

Visited on 5th October 1972. This tiny ring of stones is hardly a stone circle. The ring is of fairly small upright stones, smaller than the average hut circle. Diameter 3.6-4.5 metres. No obvious entrance.

Grinsell, L. V., 1978, Dartmoor Barrows, 148, Lydford 48 (Article in Serial). SDV273224.

(12/06/1976) Stennen Hill No 2 SX 62577788. Slight cairn with retaining circle. Diameter 6m, height 0.15m.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1979, SX67NW17 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV263622.

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

Not visible on RAF 1951 aerial images.

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

(18/07/1989) Two hut circles at SX 62527787 and 62567788, set 45m apart on a moderate, S slope amid medium clitter NW of Powder Mills.
'B' SX 62567788 Internal diameter 5.2m defined by fragmentary walls (especially on the N arc) 1m wide and 0.3m high, composed of large stones including several edge-set slabs marking the internal face. These stand up to 0.8m high. The hut is terraced into the slope.
Neither of these features are stone circles, despite the scheduled status. Explanation as cairn circles by Grinsell is understandable (1978) given the proximity of two genuine cairns with cists (SX 67 NW 15 and 16). There is no doubt, however that they are hut circles.

Gerrard, S., 1990-2002, Monument Protection Programme. Archaeological Item Dataset., MPP 149282 (Report - Survey). SDV277946.

(16/09/1998) At SX 62557788. A stone hut circle forming part of a partially enclosed stone hut circle settlement 440m NNW of Powder Mills. Measures 5.6m by 4.3m. Single orthostat wall 1m wide, 0.8m high. Orientated at 60 degrees. Door faces 168 degrees and is defined on right by a large orthostat. Another stone lying within the passage may be a displaced jamb. This is definitely a hut rather than a ring cairn. Grass, gorse and bilberry.

Butler, J., 1991, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Two - The North, 64,Map 29 (Monograph). SDV219155.

100 metres to the east of the 'Stennen Hill settlements' is a pair of larger huts of circa 5.0 metres diameter with entrances downhill. This hut is the eastern of the two.

English Heritage, 2005-2008, Prehistoric Survey Information (Cartographic). SDV345521.

Hut circle shown on survey.

Ordnance Survey, 2022, Mastermap 2022 (Cartographic). SDV364674.

One of two 'Hut Circles' shown on modern mapping.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8645 - Powder Mills and Gawler Newtake, Duchy Farms Survey
• EDV8409 - Dartmoor Royal Forest Project
• EDV8423 - Duchy Farms Project

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