Details

This monument includes a cluster of five stone hut circles and associated
boundary walls situated within a large enclosure lying on a south-east facing
slope overlooking the valley of the River Tavy. The buildings are terraced
into the hillslope and are composed of stone and earth walls surrounding an
internal area. The internal diameters of the huts vary between 2.8m and 4.2m,
with the average being 3.7m. The surrounding walls vary between 0.2m and 0.5m
high, with the average being 0.34m. Two of the huts have visible doorways and
one has an annex. The boundary walls are curved in plan and are composed of
rubble and earth banks measuring 1.2m wide and up 0.5m high. The western wall
links two huts together and the other partially encloses another hut. Neither
wall forms a complete visible circuit, and they must therefore represent
either partially robbed, partly buried or unfinished enclosures.

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. Within the landscape of Dartmoor
there are many discrete plots of land enclosed by stone walls or banks of
stone and earth, most of which date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC), though
earlier and later examples also exist. They were constructed as stock pens or
as protected areas for crop growing and were sometimes subdivided to
accommodate stock and hut circle dwellings for farmers and herdsmen. The size
and form of enclosures may therefore vary considerably depending on their
particular function. Their variation in form, longevity and relationship to
other monument classes 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 circles within the large enclosure north-east of Ger Tor survive
comparatively well and contain archaeological remains and environmental
evidence relating to the monument, the economy of its inhabitants and the
landscape in which they lived. As such, the site provides a valuable insight
into the nature of Bronze Age occupation on the west side of the moor. Many of
the huts are visually impressive examples of their type. The hut circles 30m
north-east of Ger Tor are the only ones within this large enclosure that are
associated with smaller enclosures.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX58SW97,
Gibson, A, Single Monument Class Description - Stone Hut Circles, (1987)
MPP fieldwork by S. Gerrard,

Source: Historic England