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 divisions, 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.
This site, just above the scarp of the steep east side of the Erme Valley,
is a well-preserved example of an unenclosed stone hut settlement and
provides important evidence of how early farming and stock-rearing
communities lived on the Moor.
Details
Low stone walls or banks enclosing a circular internal floor area form the
remains of timber and turf or thatch-roofed dwellings occupied by farmers of
the prehistoric period. They may occur singly or in larger groups and were
sometimes built within a surrounding boundary bank or enclosure. On
Dartmoor, the tradition of building round stone-based houses can be traced
back to the second millennium BC, probably from about 1700 BC onwards. The
Dartmoor landscape also includes many discrete plots of land enclosed by
stone walls, which acted as stock pens or protected areas for crop growing.
Many examples date to the Bronze Age (c.2500 - 500 BC), though earlier and
later ones exist.
This unenclosed stone hut settlement on the steep eastern slope of the Erme
Valley, consists of twenty-two hut circles, with enclosures and lengths of
bank. The huts are terraced into the hillside and lie in two main groups,
ranging in size from 5 to 11m. with walls up to 3m. thick and a metre
high, there are small enclosures and sections of wall or bank associated
with the huts. At the south of the settlement are two enclosures 23m. and
18m. across, without huts or divisions. Three tinners' caches point to
later use of the site.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
10521
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
