Stone hut circle settlement 580m north east of White Hill summit

Reasons for Designation

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 settlement 580m north east of White Hill summit survives well within an area containing a number of broadly contemporary settlements, field systems, cairnfields and funerary monuments. The settlement 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. The earthwork evidence indicates that at least some of the settlement is buried beneath peat which will have provided a valuable protective covering.

Details

This monument includes five stone hut circles and a length of boundary wall situated at the foot of a long west-facing slope descending from Hare Tor and overlooking the valley of the Walla Brook. The huts are composed of stone and earth banks each surrounding an internal area. Four of the huts are circular in plan, and their internal diameters vary between 4.2m and 7m. The remaining hut is oval in shape, its interior measures 6m long by 5m wide and the surrounding wall is 2m wide and 0.4m high. The average height of the hut walls is 0.46m. One hut has a visible doorway and two have slight hollows within their interiors which suggest partial early excavation, robbing or modern military reuse. The linear distribution of the stone hut circles strongly suggests that they may have once been linked by a palisade or similar structure which may now partly survive as a buried feature. A sinuous length of rubble walling measuring 100m long lying in the area immediately to the north of the stone hut circles may represent a visible part of this original linking wall. This wall is lyncheted along its entire length and survives as a 1.4m wide and 0.4m high rubble bank. The location and the alignment of this boundary suggests that it is contemporary with the huts.

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.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

22350

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Butler, J, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, (1991), 131
Butler, J, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, (1991), 131
Butler, J, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities - The North in Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, Vol. 2, (1993), 131
Butler, J, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities in Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities - The North, Vol. 2, (1991), 104

Other
MPP fieldwork by S. Gerrard,
Gibson, A, Single Monument Class Description - Stone Hut Circles, (1987)

End of official list entry

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