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Enclosure with hut circles on Gutter Tor

A Scheduled Monument in Sheepstor, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.4836 / 50°29'0"N

Longitude: -4.0071 / 4°0'25"W

OS Eastings: 257700.275116

OS Northings: 66788.64365

OS Grid: SX577667

Mapcode National: GBR Q2.ZVYH

Mapcode Global: FRA 27HS.8Q3

Entry Name: Enclosure with hut circles on Gutter Tor

Scheduled Date: 11 June 1965

Last Amended: 21 October 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012224

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10595

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Sheepstor

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Details

The Dartmoor landscape includes many discrete plots of land enclosed by
stone walls or earth and stone banks, which acted as stock pens or protected
areas for crop growing. Some of them were subdivided to accommodate hut
dwellings for farmers and herdsmen. Many examples date to the Bronze Age
(c.2500-500BC) though earlier and later ones also exist.
This enclosure with hut circles on Gutter Tor is sub-rectangular and lies on
flattish ground just south of the outcrops of Gutter Tor. It measures 80m by
50m and is delimited by a stone-faced bank of earth and stone 1.5m to 4m in
width and 0.3m in height, with a possible entrance near the eastern corner.
The enclosure has three hut circles within it, two attached to the wall and
one near the centre, with possible vestiges of four more. The huts range
from 5m to 10m in diameter, with walls up to 1m in height and up to 2m in
thickness, faced on both sides by slabs of stone. The central hut has an
entrance in its south-west wall. The site is crossed by a corn ditch and a
modern fence which follows the same line; The fence is excluded from the
scheduling.

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 provides 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.
This enclosure on Gutter Tor is a well-preserved example with hut circles.
It provides important insights into farming practices on the Moor during the
prehistoric period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
SX 56 NE 003,

Source: Historic England

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