Details

This monument includes a stone hut circle forming an outlying part of an
enclosed stone hut circle settlement lying on a north west facing slope of
Cawsand Hill (also known as Cosdon Hill) overlooking the valley of the River
Taw. The monument forms part of a discrete group of settlements lying on the
lower slopes of Cawsand and White Hill. In particular, two broadly
contemporary stone hut circle settlements lie a short distance east and south
east of the monument.
The stone hut circle is composed of a stone and earth bank measuring 1.5m wide
and 0.6m high, surrounding a circular internal area with a diameter of 5m.

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

Dartmoor is the largest expanse of open moorland in southern Britain and,
because of exceptional conditions of preservation, it is also one of the most
complete examples of an upland relict landscape in the whole country. The
great wealth and diversity of archaeological remains provide direct evidence
for human exploitation of the Moor from the early prehistoric period onwards.
The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites,
major land boundaries, trackways, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as
later industrial remains, gives significant insights into successive changes
in the pattern of land use through time. Stone hut circles and hut settlements
were the dwelling places of prehistoric farmers on Dartmoor. They mostly date
from the Bronze Age, with the earliest examples on the Moor in this building
tradition dating to about 1700 BC. The stone-based round houses consist of low
walls or banks enclosing a circular floor area; remains of the turf or thatch
roof are not preserved. The huts may occur singly or in small or large groups
and may lie in the open or be enclosed by a bank of earth and stone. Although
they are common on the Moor, their longevity and their relationship with other
monument types provide important information on the diversity of social
organisation and farming practices amongst prehistoric communities. They are
particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of
surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The stone hut circle 610m west of Cawsand Beacon survives well within an area
containing a large number of similar monuments. Deep peat deposits within and
around the hut protect archaeological remains and contain environmental
evidence relating to the monument, the economy of its inhabitants and the
landscape in which they lived. As such, this provides a valuable insight into
the nature of Bronze Age occupation on the north side of the moor. This hut
lies a short distance from a large number of similar structures and may
therefore contain different and contrasting information to that available in
the nearby settlements.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX69SW46, (1985)
Gibson, A, Single Monument Class Description - Stone Hut Circles, (1987)
MPP fieldwork by S. Gerrard,
Plate 16, Greeves, T A P, The Archaeology of Dartmoor from the Air, (1985)

Source: Historic England