Details

This monument includes an irregular aggregate field system, eight stone hut
circles and post-medieval fields situated on the north-east slope of Cox Tor
overlooking the valley of the Colly Brook. Seven of the huts are circular in
plan and measure between 4.7m and 7m in diameter. The remaining hut is oval
and measures 6.5m long by 4.5m wide. The walls of all the huts are composed
of stone and earth and measure between 0.3m and 0.7m high. Two of the huts
have doorways, two are attached to boundary walls and one lies immediately
outside the irregular aggregate field system.
The irregular aggregate field system includes four field-plots, defined by
stony lynchets and banks standing up to 0.7m high and 1.8m wide. This field
system extends over an area of around 2 hectares.
The post-medieval field system includes three field-plots defined by stone and
earth banks. Ridge and furrow, with an average ridge width of 3.5m, can be
identified within the interior of each field.

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,
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. Elaborate complexes of fields and field
boundaries are a major feature of the Dartmoor landscape. Irregular aggregate
field systems are one of several methods of field layout known to have been
employed in south-west England from the Bronze Age to the Roman period (c.2000
BC-AD 400). They comprise a collection of field plots, generally lacking
conformity of orientation and arrangement, containing fields with sinuous
outlines and varying shapes and sizes, bounded by stone or rubble walls or
banks, ditches or fences. They are often located around or near ceremonial and
funerary monuments. They are an important element of the existing landscape
and are representative of farming practice over a long period. A substantial
proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite limited damage, the irregular aggregate field system and eight stone
hut circles on the north-east slope of Cox Tor survive comparatively well, the
survival of post-medieval field plots providing evidence for agricultural re-
use. Important and informative archaeological structures, features and
deposits survive intact across the monument and provide an insight into
settlement and agricultural practice on the western side of the Moor.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Butler, J, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, (1991), 84-5
Other
Gibson, A, Single Monument Class Description - Stone Hut Circles, (1987)
National Archaeological Record, SX57NW32,

Source: Historic England