Stone hut circle 472m south-east of Siblyback Farm

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 SE of Siblyback Farm has survived well despite the relatively recent clearance from its immediate vicinity of parts of the prehistoric field systems with which it was originally associated. The proximity of this hut circle to the surviving parts of those field systems confirms the former spread of those field systems and their settlement sites, demonstrating well the nature and extent of settlement and farming practices during the Bronze Age. The relationship between prehistoric settlement and ritual activity is evident from the nearby concentration of broadly contemporary ceremonial and funerary monuments on Craddock Moor.

Details

The monument includes a prehistoric stone hut circle situated on a west-facing slope descending from the western edge of Craddock Moor on south-east Bodmin Moor. The hut circle survives with a largely turf-covered circular wall of heaped rubble, up to 1.75m wide and 0.4m high, defining an internal area 8.5m in diameter, levelled into the hillslope. The hut circle wall has a 1.5m wide entrance gap facing NNW and flanked by a small end-set slab, called an orthostat, on its east side. From 50m east of this monument are extensive, broadly contemporary, field systems with incorporated hut circles on the western periphery of Craddock Moor. This monument is considered formerly to have been encompassed by parts of those prehistoric field systems which have largely been cleared by relatively recent pasture improvement. Beyond the field systems, to the south-east towards the centre of Craddock Moor, is one of the largest concentrations of broadly contemporary ceremonial and funerary monuments on Bodmin Moor.

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:

15248

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
consulted 1992, Carter, A./Fletcher, M.J./RCHME, 1:2500 AP plots and field traces for SX 2372 & SX 2472,

End of official list entry

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