| Summary : Halangy Down Ancient Village is a settlement consisting of stone built huts including a courtyard complex and an associated series of small terraced fields. The site dates from the Bronze Age but the main period of occupation is believed to have been from the 2nd to 4th century AD. The field system was initially of Bronze Age date, before being used and modified in later periods, and occupation deposits have included Bronze Age and Iron Age artefacts. The fields are of rectilinear type, often measuring about 40 metres by 20 metres. However possible sub-division of larger fields is concealed below dense vegetation including braken and furze. The early phases in the settlement include oval or rounded houses defined by thick walls faced with slabs and uncoursed rubble and surviving up to about 1 metre in height. The buildings incorporate small storage chambers and have drainage channels cut in the underlying subsoil. In addition one house included a paved hearth defined by small slabs as well as traces of paving. The final phase in the development of the settlement is believed to be a large multi-roomed courtyard house, occupying the south east of the settlement area. This is much larger than the other houses and measures 27 metres long by up to 14.5 metres wide. Excavations were carried out by A. Gray in 1935 and P. Ashbee in 1950 and between 1964 and 1970. These produced Iron Age pottery, local and imported Romano-British pottery and early post-Roman pottery. Stone implements included flint and quartz tools, slate spindle-whorl and disc, several millstones and part of a mould-stone for casting. Metal finds included bronze brooches and iron and iron slag, indicative of iron processing on the site. In addition limpet shells, bones of fish, cattle, sheep, pig and horse were found. The area contains a number of pits produced by 19th century stone extraction used for the New Pier at Hugh town. The site is in the care of English Heritage. |
More information : SV 910123 Settlement (NR) (1)
A Romano-British settlement consisting of stone built huts including a courtyard complex; also an associated series of small terraced fields. Excavations were carried out by Gray in 1935 and Ashbee in 1950 and 1964 to 1970. The main occupation was 2nd to 4th century AD. Iron age sherds were also noted and clay built corn-drying ovens were found beneath one of the huts. Grass-marked sherds show occupation continuing into the post-Roman period. Other finds include flint and quartz implements, saddle and rotary querns, four bronze brooches and fragments of a mould and a cup marked stone.(2-8)
At Halangy, two megalithic tombs (SV 91 SW), a Bronze Age settlement, a subsequent Iron Age (Roman) village, and cemetery, are linked to the field system, initially of Bronze Age date but used and perhaps modified during the later period. The terraced and lynchetted fields are, in miniature, of
classic, small scale, southern British pattern. (9)
The excavated settlement of 0.3ha is centred at SV 961237 on a slight north west slope at 30.0m OD. The remains, under DOE guardianship, are as described by Ashbee. There are evidently a number of outlying and unexcavated huts, eg 140m to the north east and 100m to the east, although at the latter there also exists some quarry pits.
The field system to the north east occupies about 2.0ha with contour lynchets up to 1.3m high and transverse banks of stone 0.2m to 0.5m high. Fields are of small rectil near type, often 40.0m by 20.0m. Larger fields may have sub-divisions concealed by the humus, dense bracken and furze.
The field system evidently continued to the south west for 100m. The pattern has been rendered virtually unitelligible by quarrying but beyond, and centred at SV 90851218, a further 2.0ha have well defined contour lynchets up to 1.5m high. These are on a west slope but no transverse field banks are visible, possibly because of the heavy bracken growth which covers the area. In this area some seven or eight scooped platforms may represent huts. They are from 5.0m to 7.0m in diameter and most are integrated with the lynchets. However it is said that here also stone was quarried in the 19th century for the construction of the New pier at Hugh town.
Settlement and field systems surveyed at 1:2500 on PFD (see also illustration).
(10-11)
Halangy Down Ancient Village is a settlement consisting of stone built huts including a courtyard complex and an associated series of small terraced fields. The site dates from the Bronze Age but the main period of occupation is believed to have been from the 2nd to 4th century AD. The field system was initially of Bronze Age date, before being used and modified in later periods, and occupation deposits have included Bronze Age and Iron artefacts. The early phases in the settlement include oval or rounded houses defined by thick walls, faced with slabs and uncoursed rubble and surviving up to about 1 metre in height. The buildings incorporate small storage chambers and have drainage channels cut in the underlying subsoil. In addition one house included a paved hearth defined by small slabs as well as traces of paving. The final phase in the development of the settlement is believed to be a large multi-roomed courtyard house, occupying the south east of the settlement area. This is much larger than the other houses and measures 27 metres long by up to 14.5 metres wide. Excavations produced Iron Age pottery, local and imported Romano-British pottery and early post-Roman pottery. Stone implements included flint and quartz tools, a slate spindle-whorl and disc, several millstones and part of a mould-stone for casting. Metal finds included bronze brooches and fragments of iron and iron slag, the latter of which is indicative of iron processing on the site. In addition limpet shells, bones of fish, cattle, sheep, pig and horse were found. The settlement provides an unparalleled breadth of evidence for the nature of Romano-British domestic life in this remote outlier from the Roman Empire. (12)
A brief history and description. (13) |