A stone hut circle on Longash Common lying 870m ESE of Merrivale Bridge

Overview

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1013432

Date first listed: 04-Dec-1995

Location

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

National Park: DARTMOOR

National Grid Reference: SX 55809 74765

Summary

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

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 provide 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. Stone hut circles and hut settlements were the dwelling places of prehistoric farmers on Dartmoor. They mostly date from the Bronze Age, with the earliest examples on the Moor in this building tradition dating to about 1700 BC. The stone-based round houses consist of low walls or banks enclosing a circular floor area; remains of the turf or thatch roof are not preserved. The huts may occur singly or in small or large groups and may lie in the open or be enclosed by a bank of earth and stone. Although they are common on the Moor, their longevity and their relationship with other monument types provide important information on the diversity of social organisation and farming practices amongst prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The stone hut circle on Longash Common lying 870m ESE of Merrivale Bridge survives well and together with a rich array of features to the west forms part of a particularly important archaeological landscape in which the three major periods of human activity on the Moor are represented.

History

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

Details

This monument includes an isolated stone hut circle situated on a gentle south west facing slope overlooking the valley of an unnamed tributary of the River Walkham. The building is terraced into the hillside and is composed of a stone and earth wall surrounding a circular internal area. The interior of the building measures 5.6m in diameter and the surrounding 1.4m wide wall stands up to 0.8m high. The north eastern wall of the building is formed by a large earthfast boulder. The doorway survives as a south west facing, partly blocked gap in the hut wall, lined on both sides by granite slabs.

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: 24196

Legacy System: RSM

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX57SE140, (1986)
Gibson, A, Single Monument Class Description - Stone Hut Circles, (1987)
MPP fieldwork by S. Gerrard, (1994)

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.