Details

This monument includes five stone hut circles and fragmentary lengths of
rubble walls situated on a south-east facing slope overlooking the valley of
the River Tavy. The huts are composed of stone and earth banks surrounding an
internal area. The huts are circular in plan and the internal diameters
vary from 6m to 2.3m. The height of all the walls varies between 0.4 and
0.3m. Two huts have visible doorways. Fragments of rubble walling lying
between the huts have been identified, though it is not clear whether these
represent field-plots or an enclosure boundary.

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 settlement 280m south-west of Deadlake Foot survives well
within an area containing a number of broadly contemporary settlements. This
settlement contains archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating
to the monument, the economy of its inhabitants and the landscape in which
they lived. As such, it provides a valuable insight into the nature of Bronze
Age occupation on the west side of the Moor. The earthwork evidence indicates
that at least some of the settlement remains buried beneath peat.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Butler, J, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, (1991), 104
Butler, J, 'Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities' in Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities - The North, , Vol. 2, (1991), 104
Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX58SE11,
Gibson, A, Single Monument Class Description - Stone Hut Circles, (1987)
MPP fieldwork by S. Gerrard,

Source: Historic England