Coaxial field system, hut circles and medieval farm buildings at Starehole Bottom

Reasons for Designation

Coaxial field systems are one of several methods of land division employed during the Bronze Age; evidence from areas such as Dartmoor, where they are relatively common, suggest their introduction around 1700 BC and their continued use until 1000 BC. They generally consist of linear stones banks forming parallel boundaries running up slope to meet similar boundaries that run along the contours of higher slopes. The long strips formed by the parallel boundaries may be subdivided by cross banks to form a series of rectangular field plots, each sharing a common axis. Broadly contemporary occupation sites, comprising hut circle settlements, and funerary and ceremonial sites, may be found within these enclosed fields. Coaxial field systems are representative of their period and an important element in the existing landscape. Surviving examples are likely to be considered of national importance.

Despite slight damage, the coaxial field system, hut circles and medieval farm buildings at Starehole Bottom survive well. Their earthworks will contain stratigraphic information relating to their construction and use. The medieval farm buildings represent examples of a type of dispersed settlement characteristic of this part of the south west peninsula.

Details

This monument includes part of a coaxial field system containing three scattered hut circles, medieval banks, and the sites of four medieval agricultural buildings with associated hollow ways. Post-medieval features include two miners' prospecting pits and a water management system. The monument lies partly on a flat coastal plateau, sloping steeply down into a valley to the north, with dramatic views of the local coastal scenery all around. The coaxial banks of the field system are aligned north west to south east and cut across the steep southern side of Starehole Bottom at an angle, continuing up onto the flat coastal plateau. The sub-rectangular fields are defined by further banks which measure from 2m to 5m wide and from 0.5m to 1.3m high. They contain occasional fragments of facing stonework and vertical orthostats. Three hut circles are located within the fields on the coastal plateau and measure from 12m to 15m in total diameter with stone faced encircling walls surviving as banks from 2m to 4m wide and up to 1m high. Medieval sub-divisions of the field system at the south west corner have low banks forming narrow strips from 15m to 25m wide and from 70m to 90m long. Other sub-divisions in Starehole Bottom have created very small paddocks, which contain two rectangular detached buildings measuring from 15m to 23m long and 10m wide, with walls 2m wide and up to 1m high. Two more rectangular building platforms from 6m to 8m long and up to 3m wide are scarped into the cliff edge alongside medieval hollow ways which descend from the field system into Starehole Cove at the east end of the monument. A water management system just west of the cove is of post-medieval date, with a small dam across the stream, from which a leat fed a distribution tank 4m by 5m wide and up to 1.2m deep. Three gullies leading from this tank down to the cliff edge measure 1m wide and from 0.4m to 0.8m deep. Two post-medieval miners' prospecting pits on the north western corner of the plateau are on an east to west alignment and are roughly circular, measuring 15m in diameter and from 0.6m to 1m deep. All fence posts 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.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

34887

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
MPP fieldwork by R Waterhouse, Waterhouse, R, (2000)
MPP fieldwork by R Waterhouse, Waterhouse, R, (2000)
MPP fieldwork by R Waterhouse, Waterhouse, R, (2000)

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