This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.
We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?
If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.
Latitude: 50.5291 / 50°31'44"N
Longitude: -3.8907 / 3°53'26"W
OS Eastings: 266091.228997
OS Northings: 71631.587211
OS Grid: SX660716
Mapcode National: GBR Q8.W2BC
Mapcode Global: FRA 27RN.L2L
Entry Name: Stone hut circle on Down Ridge 480m south west of Saddle Bridge
Scheduled Date: 9 February 2001
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1019219
English Heritage Legacy ID: 28738
County: Devon
Civil Parish: Dartmoor Forest
Traditional County: Devon
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon
Church of England Parish: Holne St Mary the Virgin
Church of England Diocese: Exeter
The monument includes a stone hut circle situated on a gentle north east
facing slope overlooking the River Dart. The stone hut circle includes a 1.1m
wide and 0.7m high, circular orthostatic wall surrounding an internal area
which measures 4.8m in diameter. An east facing gap in the wall may represent
an original entrance.
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
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 on Down Ridge 480m south west of Saddle Bridge survives
well and contains information relating to the occupation of the area
immediately beyond the Dartmeet coaxial field system.
Source: Historic England
Other
MPP Fieldwork by S. Gerrard, Gerrard, S., (1999)
Source: Historic England
Other nearby scheduled monuments