MDE8961 - Bronze Age hut circle on northern slope of Trentishoe Down (Monument)

Centred at SS 6288 4804. The well preserved remains of a hut circle lie on gently northnortheast facing slopes at 250 metres above ordnance datum on the north side of Trentishoe Down. The hut is roughly circular measuring 9.0 metres from bank centre to bank centre, and some 11.2 metres overall. It is defined by a stone and earth bank up to 2.0 metres wide and a maximum of 0.6 metres high. The entrance, a break in the bank 1.7 metres wide, lies on the southeast side. The hut is slightly terraced into the natural slope on its upper, or southern, side (by 0.4 metres), but it is principally formed by the building out of the platform on its northern side. Locally the hut occupies the foot of a steepening of the natural slope with gentler ground below it. It is protected from westerly weather by an undulation in the slope on its western side. No evidence of field clearance could be found in the proximity of the hut. Vegetation: low bracken and some bilberry. [1-3] The earthwork remains of a Bronze Age hut circle are clearly visible on aerial photographs, as described above. However, the circle appears incomplete on aerial photographs, with a large gap on the southwestern side measuring almost 7 metres across. Another possible hut circle is also visible approximately 50 metres to the north. [4,5] 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]