Watern Oke: ten hut circles

Historic England's scheduling record (list entry 1011566) describes ten stone hut circles on a gentle south-facing slope above the River Tavy, part of the large unenclosed Watern Oke settlement. Six are circular, 2.8 to 4.8 metres across inside. Three are oval, 2.8 to 4.2 metres long and 2 to 3 metres wide, with walls 0.5 to 0.8 metres high. The tenth is a two-roomed structure with an oval room 2.8 by 2 metres and a circular one 2.7 metres across. The walls average 0.82 metres high. One hut contains a hearth, six have doorways and one has a porch. It lies in the parish of Dartmoor Forest, about 2 km west of Fur Tor.

In June and July 1905 the Dartmoor Exploration Committee partly excavated these huts and found a lot of charcoal, cooking, sling and rubbing stones, pottery and flint. More huts probably survive north of the monument under peat, but they cannot be identified and are not scheduled.

Sources: Historic England list entry 1011566, which cites Anderson, 'Hut Circle Settlement at Watern Oke' (Devonshire Association Transactions, vol 38, 1906), pages 111 to 112, and Gibson, Single Monument Class Description: Stone Hut Circles (1987).

• Period: Bronze Age
• Status: Scheduled monument (Historic England list entry 1011566)
• Grid reference: SX 5678 8333 (approximate, from the listing's coordinates)

Historic England listed designation: Ten stone hut circles forming part of an unenclosed settlement at Watern Oke