Nine DPA Conservation Volunteers returned to the Hound Tor 2 settlement on Wednesday the 27th of May for their first workday of the summer. With the recent mix of rain and sunny days, bracken has been growing rapidly and has begun to swamp the archaeology on site. Clearance is undertaken to keep the mix of Mediaeval and Bronze Age remains visible and also to limit underground damage from the extensive root systems of bracken. Before any work took place, two volunteers visited the site to survey for any ground nesting bird activity, which was not found within the area of proposed work.
The aim of this workday was to cut back the bracken from around the archaeology and leave the area clear and accessible. Diminishing the vigour of bracken requires multiple cuts in the growing season, over a number of years, which causes the plants to use up the sugars which they store in underground rhizomes. These are special parts of the root system which allows bracken to store food throughout the summer and overwinter beneath the soil, before bursting back to life in the spring and growing quickly to out-compete other plants. Despite being very useful to this native Dartmoor plant, these rhizomes swell up and can crack apart or move below-ground archaeology, which eventually leads to collapse. Due to this, bracken requires ongoing management on sites such as Hound Tor 2.
Images: The Hound Tor 2 site before and after clearance work.
As well as general clearance, volunteers removed bracken to re-open a footpath leading from Hound Tor 2 to the main Hound Tor medieval settlement. With bracken able to grow up to 2m high, it is important to keep paths clear, as they can otherwise quickly be lost. Accessible paths invite further visitors, both human and animal, which can have a favourable impact by trampling the bracken down further and minimizing re-growth. Appropriate areas for firebreaks were also scouted out, but further advice from Andy Crabb, DNPA archaeologist, is being sought to confirm final placement.
Workday co-ordinator, Jane Hannaford, said: ‘Thank you for a great team effort from our 9 volunteers who bashed the bracken on Wednesday 27/5. Thankfully the weather was not too hot due to a cooling breeze. The site had plenty of bluebells all going to seed. So the timing of our first summer time visit was perfect. We achieved our aim of clearing the site and opening up the area to one of the footpaths that lead to Hound Tor 1 settlement. Hopefully, now that we have cleared the site more walkers will visit the area thus damaging the bracken further.’
Hound Tor 2 archaeological features can be found 340m NW of the more well known Medieval Village – grid reference about SX745790. On this lesser known, but very interesting, site mediaeval farmers had reused and incorporated prehistoric hut circles into their farmstead. One of the hut circles was used as the foundation course for a medieval stone building. A well-preserved longhouse, along with other stone structures, enclosures and passageways are also present. Parts of the site were excavated in the 1960s by pioneering archaeologist Mrs. Minter and the areas excavated were not backfilled, so the original mediaeval walling is still exposed.
We are always delighted to welcome new volunteers to our friendly team, who make a huge difference on Dartmoor by working on both DPA owned land holdings and other sites. Workdays offer the opportunity for outdoor exercise, socializing with like-minded people and the feeling of having made a positive impact. Waterproofs, tools and training can all be provided, as required, and a full list of upcoming days is listed on our website.
Images courtesy of Jane Hannaford and Sylvia Hamilton.