Reasons for Designation
Shielings are small seasonally occupied huts which were built to provide
shelter for herdsmen who tended animals grazing summer pasture on upland or
marshland. These huts reflect a system called transhumance, whereby stock was
moved in spring from lowland pasture around the permanently occupied farms to
communal upland grazing during the warmer summer months. Settlement patterns
reflecting transhumance are known from the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC)
onwards. However, the construction of herdsmen's huts in a form distinctive
from the normal dwelling houses of farms, only appears from the early medieval
period onwards (from AD 450), when the practice of transhumance is also known
from documentary sources and, notably, place-name studies. Their construction
appears to cease at the end of the 16th century. Shielings vary in size but
are commonly small and may occur singly or in groups. They have a simple sub-
rectangular or ovoid plan normally defined by drystone walling, although
occasional turf-built structures are known, and the huts are sometimes
surrounded by a ditch. Most examples have a single undivided interior but two
roomed examples are known. Some examples have adjacent ancillary structures,
such as pens, and may be associated with a midden. Some are also contained
within a small ovoid enclosure. Shielings are reasonably common in the uplands
but frequently represent the only evidence for medieval settlement and farming
practice here. Those examples which survive well and which help illustrate
medieval land use in an area are considered to be nationally important.
Details
The monument includes a medieval shieling located on Greyfell Common 310m
north west of Stantling Loan. It is a rectangular two-roomed passage hut
which measures 7.6m by 3.8m externally with walls of drystone construction
standing up to 1.1m high. The shieling is aligned north east-south west and
has an entrance in the south east side which faces down the valley. This
doorway still retains a threshold slab and two upright stones for door jambs,
and leads into a passage which is divided from a small room to the right and a
larger room to the left by upright slab partitions. A hearth was located on
the north west side of the larger room. In front of the shieling a short
length of paved path leads to the door, and there are also remains of a paved
area protected by a stone wall on the south west side which is interpreted as
having acted as a wind-break. Abutting the shieling's south west side is a
rectangular annexe measuring approximately 3.4m by 2.9m externally with an
entrance in the south east side. The monument has been constructed on a
levelled platform of stone rubble dug into the hillslope.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
27789
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals 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
