Details

The monument includes an irregular aggregate field system and stone hut
circle situated on a west facing slope of Laughter Tor, overlooking the
valley of the West Dart River. The irregular aggregate field system is
defined by a series of sinuous low rubble banks standing up to 0.45m high,
some of which are lynchetted and which together form at least eight
fields, which have been added over a period of time. The stone hut circle
sits within the southern field and survives as a circular platform
standing up to 0.6m high.

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.

The irregular aggregate field system and stone hut circle 755m north east
of Dunnabridge Pound Farm survive comparatively well. A number of similar
settlements and field systems survive on this part of Dartmoor and
together they provide an important insight into the character of
settlement and land use on the fringes of the more substantial coaxial
field systems.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Title: Duchy Farms Survey - Brimpts Farm
Source Date: 1988
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:
1:10000 plan

Source: Historic England