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Stone hut circle 450m north east of Teignhead Farm

A Scheduled Monument in Gidleigh, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.646 / 50°38'45"N

Longitude: -3.9275 / 3°55'39"W

OS Eastings: 263816.316436

OS Northings: 84699.348926

OS Grid: SX638846

Mapcode National: GBR Q6.7QVV

Mapcode Global: FRA 27NC.HQG

Entry Name: Stone hut circle 450m north east of Teignhead Farm

Scheduled Date: 24 January 2001

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1019263

English Heritage Legacy ID: 28758

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Gidleigh

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Church of England Parish: Widecombe-in-the-Moor St Pancras

Church of England Diocese: Exeter

Details

The monument includes a stone hut circle situated on a south east facing slope
overlooking the valley of the North Teign River. The stone hut circle
includes a 1.5m wide and 0.5m high, rubble bank wall surrounding an oval
shaped internal area which measures 5m long by 3.7m wide. The south western
side of the building is denoted by a large earthfast rock. A SSE facing gap
in the hut 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

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. 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.

Despite lying within a later historic field system, the stone hut circle 450m
north east of Teignhead Farm survives well and contains information relating
to the occupation of this particularly inhospitable area during the
prehistoric period. Settlements consisting of solitary huts are relatively
rare on the Moor and generally occur at higher altitudes.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX68SW111, (1995)

Source: Historic England

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