Prehistoric hut circle and field system 440m south west of Treswallock Cottage

Reasons for Designation

Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands, has long been recognised to have exceptional preservation of archaeological remains. The Moor has been the subject of detailed archaeological survey and is one of the best recorded upland landscapes in England. The extensive relict landscapes of prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval date provide direct evidence for human exploitation of the Moor from the earliest prehistoric period onwards. The well-preserved and often visible relationship between settlement sites, field systems, ceremonial and funerary monuments as well as later industrial remains provides significant insights into successive changes in the pattern of land use through time. Stone hut circles were the dwelling places of prehistoric farmers on the Moor, mostly dating from the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). The stone-based round houses survive as low walls or banks enclosing a circular floor area; remains of a turf or thatch roof are not preserved. The huts occur singly or in small or large groups and may occur in the open or be enclosed by a bank of earth and stone. Although they are common on the Moor, their longevity of use and their relationship with other monument types provides important information on the diversity of social organisation and farming practices among prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The hut circle 440m south west of Treswallock Cottage survives well, showing only limited evidence for later disturbance and none at all affecting the hut circle interior. Although truncated by later boundaries and land use, the remains of the adjacent prehistoric field system provide valuable evidence for the contemporary land use accompanying this settlement site. This hut circle and its remnant field system form a rare survival in long enclosed modern pasture, where we have relatively few insights into the nature of prehistoric activity due to its location well beyond the main foci of surviving prehistoric remains on the higher downs of Bodmin Moor.

Details

The monument includes a prehistoric hut circle with adjacent field system remains on a westerly slope on the modern Treswallock Farm near the western edge of Bodmin Moor. The monument also includes that length of a medieval and post-medieval hedgebank which truncates the northern surviving extent of the prehistoric field system. The hut circle survives with an ovoid interior, levelled into the slope and measuring 6.7m north-south by 5.9m east-west. The interior is defined by a turf covered rubble bank, 2.2m-2.8m wide and rising to a maximum 0.6m high beside the east side of the levelled interior, although only 0.1m high along the bank's eastern outer face. The exposed rubble along the bank's north western curve shows a roughly coursed inner and outer facing, indicating a former width of 1.4m for the bank at that level. Two short breaks in the bank on the WNW and south west sides may indicate an original entrance or may be attributable to later damage. A prehistoric boundary extends for 11.5m north from the northern edge of the hut circle bank. It is visible as a turf covered rubble bank, generally 2.5m wide, rising to 0.6m high along its downslope (western) side but only 0.3m high along its upslope (eastern) side: this height difference reflects the boundary's blocking of downslope soil movement, an effect called lynchetting and enhanced by former cultivation of the adjacent ground. The boundary's northern end is abruptly truncated 0.9m from a medieval and later hedgebank which passes east-west across its line. Nearby to the east, that hedgebank itself is overlain and truncated by a substantial modern rubble faced hedgebank whose course runs north-south on an alignment 2.3m east of the prehistoric boundary. A small rectangular prehistoric field encloses the west side of the hut circle, its surviving extent defined on the west and north by a low rubble bank. Subsequent attempts to open up the modern pasture have created several breaks across the bank but between those breaks it remains visible, generally 1.3m-1.7m wide and up to 0.5m high, following a northerly course passing 2m west of the hut circle and then turns east towards the boundary running north from the hut circle. On the south side, a modern hedgebank truncates the plot and veers north east past the southern edge of the hut circle wall. All modern post and wire fences and the structure of the modern timber stile over the southern hedgebank are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

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:

15547

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Title: 1:10000 Ordnance Survey Map; SX 17 NW Source Date: 1983 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
CAU, Cornwall SMR entry: PRN 3111, (1989)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.