Reasons for Designation
Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been
recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The
Moor has been the subject of detailed archaeological survey and is one of the
best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes of
prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date provide direct evidence for human
exploitation of the Moor from the earliest prehistoric period onwards. The
well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, field
systems, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains
provides significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land
use through time. Stone hut circles were the dwelling places of prehistoric
farmers on the Moor, mostly dating from the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). The
stone-based round houses survive as low walls or banks enclosing a circular
floor area; remains of a turf or thatch roof are not preserved. The huts occur
singly or in small or large groups and may occur in the open or be enclosed by
a bank of earth and stone. Although they are common on the Moor, their
longevity of use and their relationship with other monument types provides
important information on the diversity of social organisation and farming
practices among prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative
of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.
Details
The monument includes a prehistoric stone hut circle situated on the lower
north-west slope of a broad spur between Dinnever Hill and Louden Hill on
north-west Bodmin Moor. One of a series of medieval or later hollowed
routeways passes close to the southern wall of the hut circle.
The hut circle survives with a wall of heaped rubble, up to 1m wide and 0.5m
high, incorporating occasional blocks up to 0.65m high. The wall defines an
oval internal area measuring 5m NE-SW by 3.5m NW-SE, levelled into the
hillslope at the south-east side and slightly terraced out from it to the
north-west. Part of the wall's north-western sector has been removed by
relatively recent stone robbing. A turf-covered linear hollow, 1.5m wide and
0.5m deep, passes 1m south of the hut circle wall in its NW-SE course across
the slope. This hollow is one of numerous medieval and later hollowed
routeways that crossed the spur to link the moorland tenements and pasture
with the lower land of the north-west Cornwall coastal belt.
Beyond this monument, other broadly contemporary hut circles with an irregular
field system are located on the northern periphery of the spur from 330m to
the ESE, and others occur on lower land from 230m to the WNW. The monument is
also located on the edge of an unusually large grouping of prehistoric ritual
and funerary monuments which are distributed across the moors to the south and
east of the spur. These include a ritual stone setting 145m to the ESE of this
monument and the Stannon Stone Circle, 200m to the ESE. This monument forms
one of the closest prehistoric habitation sites to that stone circle.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
15281
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Other
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
