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 remains, gives significant insights
into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time.
These two conjoined stone hut circles are well preserved and in association
with the nearby enclosures, provide 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 long tradition of building stone-based round houses can be
traced back to the second millennium BC, probably from 1700 BC onwards.
These two hut circles adjoin each other, but are not enclosed and lie
immediately above Red Brook along its right bank. The downstream hut is 8m
in diameter and has walls 1m to 1.5m in width and up to 1m in height with an
entrance flanked by orthostats in its south-west side. The upstream hut is
9m in diameter with walls of similar width which are up to 0.5m in height,
no entrance is visible, but the hut is heavily overgrown and other features
may be obscured.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
10577
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
