MSO11366 - Disputed prehistoric hut circle on Stoke Ridge (Non-antiquity)

Small irregular sub-circular feature with entrance on east side and defined by bank c. 0.5 metres high. Complex of low mounds to west. Internal dimensions 7 paces by 5 paces. [1] SS 881 429. A low irregular bank 0.5 metres high, forming a sub-circular feature with a well defined entrance was recorded by McDonnell on Stoke Ridge in 1981. The diameter varies between 7.0 metres and 5.0 metres internally. A small complex of low mounds and shallow hollows seems to be attached to the west side. [2] SS 8808 4294. This small subcircular and rather ragged enclosure lies on a southeast facing slope in open moorland at 368 metres Ordnance Datum. The interior, levelled into the gentle slope, measures c. 5.2 metres by 4.5 metres. The enclosing bank of soil and small stones is about 1.2 metres wide and is, on the uphill side, 0.4 metres high internallyand 0.1 to 0.2 metres high externally, the gap on the south east side is 3.3 metres wide. A cirvilinear bank of similar proportions attached to the southwest side may be an annexe although the surrounding ground has been heavily distrubed and this accounts for the "mounds" noted by McDonnell. It is almost certainly a building stance and may be a hut although its origin and date are by no means clear. It is visible on Ordnance Survey aerial photographs. [3,4] At SS 8808 4294 (grid reference confirmed by GPS survey) is a subcircular embanked area defined by an earth and stone bank 2.1 metres wide, with a sharp inner face. A small dump of material is visible on the southwest side of the enclosure. The ragged appearance of the feature suggests recent disturbance, and it appears unlikely to have been a prehistoric hut circle. [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]