MDE1291 - Bronze Age hut circle on Ilkerton Ridge (Monument)

A stone circle comprising 22 stones is alleged at this site. This was originally suggested to be the retaining circle of a Bronze Age barrow, but field survey following a wildfire in 2022 identified the feature as a hut circle.

Southwest of Furzehill at SS 7230 4460 a rough circle of 22 recumbent stones, possibly the retaining circle of a barrow. It measures 25 paces in diameter. Recorded by Rambird Clarke in 1939. [1] This "rough circle" of stones was not located on the ground. There are numerous peat mounds in this area but these appear to be natural features. [2] SS 7230 4460. The area is a flat topped ridge covered by heather and rough grass at the southern end of Ilkerton Ridge at about 325 metres above Ordnance Datum. No trace of these 22 recumbent stones was identified. When B.H Galland was surveying for the Lynton Tithe map [3] in 1840 one of his main stations was very close to the spot given by Grinsell [1]. A marker for this survey may have been seen in 1939 and it has since been removed. [4] The site was subject to survey in 2012 and the grid reference SS 72301 44600 given by GPS. Four stones were identified around a small mound, thought to be the Bronze Age mound. Three of the stones were mostly concealed and recumbent. [5] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [6] SS 7238 4466. The feature was visited during field survey following a wildfire in 2022. It was identified as a Bronze Age hut circle, defined by a curving bank to the west and south, with a slight bank to the north and a possible entrance to the east. It measures 8.5 metres north to south and 7.5 metres east to west; the bank is 1.5 metres by 0.6 metres high. [7]