Stone hut circle 987m WSW of East Castick Farm

Overview

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1010225

Date first listed: 09-Sep-1992

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

National Grid Reference: SX 25577 76065

Summary

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

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.

This hut circle on Hawk's Tor has survived well. It displays an unusual feature in the form of its internal recess along the western side. Its proximity to other broadly contemporary settlement sites, enclosures, field systems and cairns demonstrates well the nature of farming practices and the organisation of land use during the Bronze Age.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

The monument includes a stone hut circle situated on the lower SE flank of Hawk's Tor on eastern Bodmin Moor, near other broadly contemporary hut circle settlements, enclosures, field systems and cairns. The hut circle survives with a wall of heaped rubble, up to 0.6m high and 1.5m wide, faced both internally and externally by spaced edge-set slabs. The wall defines a near circular internal area, 5.5m in diameter, levelled into the hillslope. Along the western side of the hut circle interior, the wall-line veers outwards from the south to produce a recess 1m wide, limited at its northern end by a step in the wall, back to its former circular course. This hut circle is an outlying member of a dispersed, unenclosed settlement containing at least 23 hut circles, whose main concentration is centred 75m west of this monument.

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: 15149

Legacy System: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
King, G, Sheppard, P, 'Cornish Archaeology' in Parochial Checklist of Antiquities 10: Parish of North Hill, , Vol. 18, (1979)
Other
consulted 10/1991, Carter, A./RCHME, 1:2500 AP transcription for SX 2576,
consulted 10/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1178,
consulted 10/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1178.18,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1014,
consulted 9/1991, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN 1190,

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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.