Enclosure north-west of Gutter Tor

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 provides 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 monuments, gives significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time. This enclosure below Gutter Tor is a well-preserved example and with other settlement sites, ceremonial monuments and Eylesbarrow Reave in the vicinity, provides important insight into occupation and farming practices on the Moor during the Prehistoric period.

Details

The Dartmoor landscape includes many discrete plots of land enclosed by stone walls or earth and stone banks, which acted as stock pens or protected areas for crop growing. Some of them were subdivided to accommodate hut dwellings for farmers and herdsmen. Many examples date from the Bronze Age (c.2500-500 BC), though earlier and later ones also exist. This enclosure lies on the northern slope of Gutter Tor within 100m of Eylesbarrow Reave and a cairn with a cist. It is sub-rectangular in shape and measures 11m by 10m the bank of earth and stone is up to 0.5m in height and 1m in width. There are possible entrances in the north-west and north- east corners and a small pen, 3m across, attached to the inner face of the west wall just south of the entrance.

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:

10630

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Devon County SMR SX56NE-010,

End of official list entry

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