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. Coaxial field systems are one of several methods of land division employed during the Bronze Age; evidence from nearby Dartmoor, where they are more common, indicates their introduction around 1700 BC and their continued use until around 1000 BC. They consist of linear stone banks forming parallel boundaries running upslope to meet similar boundaries which run along the contours of the higher slopes, thereby separating the lower enclosed fields from the open grazing grounds of the higher Moor. 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 long axis. Broadly contemporary occupation sites, comprising hut circle settlements, and funerary or ceremonial sites, may be found within these lower enclosed fields. Coaxial field systems are representative of their period and an important element in the existing landscape. The stone hut circle settlement and part of a coaxial field system 940m north east of Newton survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the construction, development, relationship, function, social organisation, relative chronologies, agricultural practices and domestic arrangements of the settlement and the surrounding field systems, their re-use and overall landscape context.
Details
The monument includes a stone hut circle settlement and part of a coaxial field system, situated on the lower north western slopes of Dinnever Hill, just above a marsh which is the source of a tributary to the River Camel. The settlement survives as up to nine stone hut circles defined by rubble or stone faced walls around circular interiors which measure from 6m up to 12m in diameter. The walls stand from 0.6m up to 0.9m high. The hut circles are associated with some small irregularly-shaped enclosures and lie within part of a regularly laid out coaxial field system defined by rubble banks, orthostatic walls and lynchets forming a series of rectangular fields. Within these fields are traces of ridge and furrow, a result of medieval re-use of the field system.
Sources: HER:-
PastScape Monument No:-433346
