Hut circle enclosures at Petre's Pits Bottom

Historic England's scheduling record (list entry 1004557) describes two enclosed stone hut circle settlements, and later tinners' caches, on the southern side of the Middle Brook valley close to its junction with Petre's Pits Bottom, on the lower north-western slopes of Old Hill. The scheduling falls in two areas. It lies in the parish of South Brent, about 2.2 km west of Shipley Tor.

The northern enclosure is roughly oval, with up to five hut circles and a small tinner's cache built into its north wall. Four of the huts stand free and the fifth is attached to the inside of the south wall. They are from 5 to 8 metres across inside, with low walls up to 0.5 metres high, and the largest has a curving division inside. A leat from nearby tin working cuts the enclosure, and so do two 19th-century china clay channels. Peat and soil creep have built up over the whole inside.

The southern enclosure is D-shaped. Three sides have substantial walls up to 1.8 metres wide and 1 metre high, and the fourth is a steep scarp that is probably the result of tin working. It holds the partial remains of one hut to the north and some dividing walls. A later drystone oval pound was inserted on the south side, and a small tinner's cache was built into the south wall that still has its corbelled slab roof, forming a beehive shape, with two entrances and about 1.5 metres across inside. Other remains nearby, some scheduled and some not, are outside this scheduling.

Sources: Historic England list entry 1004557 (updated 18 November 2015), which cites Butler, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities, vol 4 (1993), pages 106 to 107, and PastScape 441873 and 441876.

• Period: Bronze Age
• Status: Scheduled monument (Historic England list entry 1004557)
• Grid reference: SX 6627 6338 (approximate, from the listing's coordinates)