Medieval Village
To the south-east of the tor, on a north-eastern-facing slope are the remains of Hundatora, a deserted medieval village, which was excavated between 1961 and 1975. It has four Dartmoor longhouses, many with a central drainage channel, and several smaller houses and barns. The three grain storage barns appear to have been adapted to include corn dryers, indicative of the deteriorating climate which led to the abandonment of the settlement by 1350.
The settlement is first mentioned in the Domesday Book as belonging to Tavistock Abbey:
Land for 4 ploughs. In Lordship 1 plough; 2 slaves; 1 virgate, 2 villages and 4 smallholders with 1 plough and 1 virgate. Meadow, 9 acres; woodland 2 acres; pasture, 1 league. 1 cattle; 28 sheep; 18 goats. Value 20 s.The villagers apparently left little behind when they left, though the acidic soil would have destroyed much evidence; the excavations unearthed a single coin from the time of Henry III, and some broken pottery originating from Crockerton in Dorset.
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Famous quotes containing the words medieval and/or village:
“Nothing in medieval dress distinguished the child from the adult. In the seventeenth century, however, the child, or at least the child of quality, whether noble or middle-class, ceased to be dressed like the grown-up. This is the essential point: henceforth he had an outfit reserved for his age group, which set him apart from the adults. These can be seen from the first glance at any of the numerous child portraits painted at the beginning of the seventeenth century.”
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