Details

The monument includes two stone hut circles situated on the lower SE flank of
Hawk's Tor on eastern Bodmin Moor, near other broadly contemporary hut circle
settlements, enclosures, field systems and cairns.
The hut circles are centred 13m apart on a WSW-ENE axis. Each has a marked
accumulation of deposits washed down the hillslope against its uphill, NW,
side. The hut circle to the ENE survives with a wall of heaped rubble, up to
0.8m high and 1.5m wide, faced internally by spaced edge-set slabs. The wall
defines a circular internal area, 4.5m in diameter, levelled into the
hillslope. The hut circle wall has an entrance gap facing SW, marked on its
NW side by a small end-set slab, called an orthostat. The hut circle to the
WSW is similarly constructed, its heaped rubble wall rising 0.8m high and 1.5m
wide, around a circular, levelled, internal area 6m in diameter. The wall
also has inner facing slabs and an entrance gap 1m wide facing SE. The
entrance gap has been adopted by the line of a modern track which crosses the
centre of the hut circle, lowering, but not destroying, a section of the
wall's NW sector where it passes over it. These hut circles are outlying
members of a dispersed, unenclosed settlement containing at least 23 hut
circles, whose main concentration is centred 75m south of this monument.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been
recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The
Moor has been the subject of detailed archaeological survey and is one of the
best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes of
prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date provide direct evidence for human
exploitation of the Moor from the earliest prehistoric period onwards. The
well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, field
systems, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains
provides significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land
use through time. Stone hut circles were the dwelling places of prehistoric
farmers on the Moor, mostly dating from the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). The
stone-based round houses survive as low walls or banks enclosing a circular
floor area; remains of a turf or thatch roof are not preserved. The huts occur
singly or in small or large groups and may occur in the open or be enclosed by
a bank of earth and stone. Although they are common on the Moor, their
longevity of use and their relationship with other monument types provides
important information on the diversity of social organisation and farming
practices among prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative
of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.

These hut circles on Hawk's Tor have survived well, with only limited damage
to the wall of the WSW hut circle from the track crossing it. The substantial
build-up of deposits against their uphill sides will preserve buried land
surfaces and environmental evidence contemporary with, and subsequent to,
their construction and use. Their proximity to other broadly contemporary
settlement sites, enclosures, field systems and cairns demonstrates well the
nature of farming practices and the organisation of land use during the Bronze
Age.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
King, G, Sheppard, P, 'Cornish Archaeology' in Parochial Checklist of Antiquities 10: Parish of North Hill, , Vol. 18, (1979)
Other
consulted 10/1991, Carter, A./RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcription for SX 2576,
consulted 10/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1178,
consulted 10/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1178.10,
consulted 10/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1178.12,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1014,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1190,

Source: Historic England