Details

This monument includes a circular enclosure situated on a gentle west-facing
slope of Hingston Hill overlooking Down Tor. The enclosure survives as a 47m
diameter area defined by a 2.5m wide and 0.8m high double faced rubble wall.
The entrance is denoted by a slab which extends through the thickness of the
wall.
This enclosure lies close to a cairn and stone alignment which are the subject
of separate schedulings, and may have been associated with these monuments.

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. Within the landscape of Dartmoor
there are many discrete plots of land enclosed by stone walls or banks of
stone and earth, most of which date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC), though
earlier and later examples also exist. They were constructed as stock pens or
as protected areas for crop growing and were sometimes subdivided to
accommodate stock and hut circle dwellings for farmers and herdsmen. The size
and form of enclosures may therefore vary considerably depending on their
particular function. Their variation in form, longevity and relationship to
other monument classes 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 enclosure east of Down Tor, 740m north east of Combshead Tor survives
well and contains archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating
to the monument, the economy of its inhabitants and the landscape in which
they lived. As such, it provides a valuable insight into the nature of Bronze
Age occupation on the west side of the Moor. This monument lies within an area
containing a stone alignment and three cairns and may therefore also provide
information concerning ritual and funerary activity.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Butler, J, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, (1991), 166
Worth, R H, Worth's Dartmoor, (1981), 212
Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX56NE131, (1985)
National Archaeological Record, SX56NE30,

Source: Historic England