Leather Tor enclosure, hut circles and prospecting pits

Historic England's scheduling record (list entry 1011247) describes an irregular enclosure, six stone hut circles, a length of reave and several prospecting pits on a gentle east-facing slope overlooking the valley of the River Meavy. The enclosure is 120 metres north to south by 76 metres east to west inside, bounded by a rubble wall up to 2.6 metres wide and 0.7 metres high on the north, lynchets up to 2 metres wide and 0.8 metres high on the east and west, and a reave 2 metres wide and 0.4 metres high on the south. It lies in the parish of Walkhampton, about 0.4 km north of Lower Leather Tor and 2.5 km north of Sheepstor.

Five huts lie inside and another is attached to the outer face at the north-east corner, where a boundary bank leads away downslope. They are stone and earth banks around circular spaces 2.9 to 4 metres across, averaging 3.26 metres, with walls 0.4 to 0.9 metres high. The reave on the south side belongs to the Leather Tor reave. The enclosure is attached to it, which strongly suggests the reave is older than the enclosure.

Several small rectangular prospecting pits, each with a crescent-shaped bank on its downslope side, lie inside the enclosure. Tinners dug them in the medieval or post-medieval period, searching for tin ore. A layer of peat over the site has protected the deposits beneath and is itself a source of information on the environment of the time.

Sources: Historic England list entry 1011247, which cites Fleming, The Dartmoor Reaves (1988), page 50, Raymond, Single Monument Class Description: Coaxial Field Systems (1987), Gibson, Single Monument Class Description: Stone Hut Circles (1987), the Devon County Sites and Monuments Register (SX57SE187) and fieldwork for the Monuments Protection Programme by S. Gerrard.

• Period: Bronze Age
• Status: Scheduled monument (Historic England list entry 1011247)
• Grid reference: SX 5640 7015 (approximate, from the listing's coordinates)