Details

The monument includes a prehistoric stone hut circle situated on a west-facing
slope descending from the western edge of Craddock Moor on south-east Bodmin
Moor.
The hut circle survives with a largely turf-covered circular wall of heaped
rubble, up to 1.75m wide and 0.4m high, defining an internal area 8.5m in
diameter, levelled into the hillslope. The hut circle wall has a 1.5m wide
entrance gap facing NNW and flanked by a small end-set slab, called an
orthostat, on its east side.
From 50m east of this monument are extensive, broadly contemporary, field
systems with incorporated hut circles on the western periphery of Craddock
Moor. This monument is considered formerly to have been encompassed by parts
of those prehistoric field systems which have largely been cleared by
relatively recent pasture improvement. Beyond the field systems, to the
south-east towards the centre of Craddock Moor, is one of the largest
concentrations of broadly contemporary ceremonial and funerary monuments on
Bodmin Moor.

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.

This hut circle SE of Siblyback Farm has survived well despite the relatively
recent clearance from its immediate vicinity of parts of the prehistoric field
systems with which it was originally associated. The proximity of this hut
circle to the surviving parts of those field systems confirms the former
spread of those field systems and their settlement sites, demonstrating well
the nature and extent of settlement and farming practices during the Bronze
Age. The relationship between prehistoric settlement and ritual activity is
evident from the nearby concentration of broadly contemporary ceremonial and
funerary monuments on Craddock Moor.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
consulted 1992, Carter, A./Fletcher, M.J./RCHME, 1:2500 AP plots and field traces for SX 2372 & SX 2472,

Source: Historic England