Skip to content

← Browse Prehistoric Settlements · Browse the directory

Prehistoric Settlements

Two overlapping enclosures near the River Walkham

Grid ref: SX 5590 7773

Main image: Photo: Guy Wareham, Wikimedia Commons

This scheduled monument comprises two circular or oval enclosures whose earthworks overlap on the steep western bank of the River Walkham. The banks and ditches, now softened by centuries of weathering, suggest a Bronze Age or Iron Age date, when such enclosed settlements were common across Dartmoor. The overlapping layout may indicate successive phases of occupation or land use rather than contemporary settlement.

The site sits in the open moorland landscape with clear views across the river valley. Visitors will find earthworks that require some effort to read in the field, especially in summer vegetation, but they reward careful observation. The Walkham itself, a significant water source, runs below the enclosures and would have been central to life here in prehistory.

Share

Contact us if you have information about this listing

Go deeper with Dartefacts

Dartefacts is a database of Dartmoor sites with far more close-up detail than we can show here, and it is the best place to go deeper. Dartefacts is free to use, and nobody has to pay to look things up. If you want more, a yearly subscription adds 10-figure grid references, map zoom down to 1:25,000 and lists to tick off the places you have visited, and it helps keep the site going. We would encourage you to subscribe.

Thoughts

Be the first to share a thought about Two overlapping enclosures near the River Walkham.

Share a thought
Dartmoor quiz
“Us could tie up the knees so's the presents wouldn't drop out, couldn't us, Muther?”

Who wrote this?

Beatrice Chase. From Through a Dartmoor Window (1915).

Worth a visit

Know another Dartmoor place, tor or landmark we should include? Suggest a listing, it is free.

Suggest a listing