A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park
May 7, 2025
Willings Walls Warren
Willings Walls Warren, which is still shown on modern OS Maps, is a throwback to the commercial breeding of rabbits for meat and their pelts on Dartmoor and occupies an area of at least 113 hectares. It lies within the Plym Valley area, which was the most extensive area for this industry, where five warrens existed over the centuries at Ditsworthy, Hentor, Legis Tor (also known as New Warren), Trowlesworthy and Willings Walls. Warrening dates back as early as 1272 when de Traylesworthy was granted land to which to warren, which is the modern day Trowlesworthy.
The warren is typical of others across Dartmoor insofar as it has the remains of specially built rabbit ‘buries’ (or Pillow Mounds), which are artificial mounds of stone and soil, covered in turf, set on a slope to with a drainage ditch around them, thus encouraging the rabbits to breed in drier conditions. Unlike other warrens, there is no definitive warren house, although the ruined medieval longhouse near Spanish Lake Head was recorded by Linehan in the 1960s as being the thought to have been used for this purpose. There are very few vermin traps (only one to the authors knowledge).
The lack of a warren house may be due to the fact that Willings Walls Warren may have always operated jointly with Hentor Warren, where there was a warren house (Hentor House). Indeed, The lease of Hentor Warren of 1807 (Morley papers) gives the boundaries of Hentor and Willings Walls Warrens combined. Ditsworthy, which latterly took over Hentor, Willings Wall and Legis Tor Warrens, was the last to be operational and covered an area of almost 1000 acres. It was not until the after the Second World War, that the Ministry of Agriculture banned the warrening trade due to the prevalence of myxomatosis.
The exploration of Willings Walls Warren in this post includes features such as numerous Pillow Mounds, some Bronze Age Settlements, several Warren Boundary Markers, a Medieval Longhouse, other Buildings constructed into the Bronze Age antiquities, a Leat constructed for the Clay Industry and an Ancient (probably Bronze Age) Reave
Jeremy Butler – 1994, Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities: Volume Three – The South-West, 115-16, Map 49, fig 49.4 (Monograph). SDV137656.
Sketch map of Willings Walls Warren and a small area of Hentor Warren (north east of Hentor Brook), showing the key features covered in this postR.G. Haynes, in his paper ‘Vermin Traps and Rabbit Warrens on Dartmoor’ (post-Medieval Archaeological Journal), refers to a 1807 lease granted to a Peter Nicholls for Hentor Warren (which included Willing Walls Warren). The combined warren extended from Spanish Lake in the south west through Hen Tor to Shavercombe Head in the north east. It was bounded the aforementioned water courses and the River Plym, as shown by the sketch (Brewer – page 264). There are 4 extant boundary stones / markers (HWB1 through HWB4). There was a fifth marker near Shavercombe Foot (HWB5) but this has never been located in modern times.The 1807 lease was dated 29th September of that year and was given to Peter Nicholls, Sheepstor, Warrener by the Right Honble John, Lord Boringdon. The lease wording started thus: “Lease of some waste on Lee Moore and an agreement abt a Warren on Hentor etc during the life of Mrs Mary Frances Penson. Lord Boringdon granted – upon All that part parcel and portion of a certain common called or known by the name of Lee Moor Situate and lying in the Parish of Shaugh in the said County of Devon according to the now meted and bounded out from the said Common of Lee Moore in manner following (that is to say)…..”. The first boundary description included a large rock inscribed with the initials HWB1 (Hentor Warren Bounds 1) which is shown aboveHWB1 rock. The description in the lease was: “From a certain row or heap of stones joining Trowlesworthy Warren and Spanish Lake Head….about 40 land yards above the same to a large rock marked with the initials H.W.B. No 1”. There are two things to note; Firstly, the ‘certain row or heap of stones’ refers to the ancient reave which runs across the hillside to the medieval longhouse and secondly a ‘land yard’ is actually 5.5 yards (or one quarter of a surveyors chain or one 320th of a mile – known also as a Perch, Rod or Pole)The HWB1 Boundary Rock is approx 250 yards from the ancient reave and approx 220 yards (ie 40 land yards x 5.5) from Spanish Lake. The earthfast boulder is located at SX58448 64431The 1807 lease wording continued : “…(from H.W.B. No 1 thence straight on East to another stone marked No 2 Eighty yards above the said row or Heap of stones…”. HWB2 is a set boundstone incised on the eastern face of the stone indicating that it is the second boundary marker of Hentor Warren. In Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries R.G.Haynes recorded that he found the stone recumbent in the 1970s. The now upright stone is located at SX58760 64740Hentor Warren boundary stone No. 2 (HWB2) is recorded by Historic England (ref 1015757) as standing on Lee Moor 860m south west of Hen Tor. The designation states : “Boundary stone denoting the eastern edge of Hentor Warren is situated on a gentle west facing slope on Lee Moor overlooking the valley of Spanish Lake. The stone stands 1.02m high and is 0.24m wide by 0.25m thick”. The picture of the stone was taken late afternoon on a day in September 2015.The 1807 lease wording continued from No. 2 : “….thence in a straight line to another bound stone marked No 3 Which is Forty Yards South of the large upright rock in Hentor…..”. This stone was also found prostrate by R.G.Haynes in the 1970s. The stone may well have moved as it is not exactly due south from Hen Tor (it is actually south east from the tor)Sandy Gerrard records this thus: “Hentor Warren boundary stone standing 200 metres south-east of Hen Tor. This boundary stone (SX5951 6520) denotes the east edge of Hentor Warren. It stands 1.18 metres high and is 0.35 metres wide at the bottom tapering to 0.2 metres at the top. At its base the stone is 0.25 metres thick whilst at the top it measures 0.15 metres. The letters HWB3 are incised on the east face of the stone indicating that it is the third boundary marker of Hentor Warren”. The lease description it as being 40 land Yards from Hen Tor, of course, is actually 40 x 5.5 = 220 yards (or 201 metres), where a land yard is 5.5 yards.The 1807 lease wording continued from No. 3 : “from thence to the Head of Shabbacombe Lake…to another bound Stone marked No. 4 from thence in a straight line to Colesmills adjoining the River Plym to another bound Stone marked No. 5….and which said stones are in all other respects bounded by the Tenements called Willings Walls and Hentor in the said Parish of Shaugh, etc.” The fourth Hentor Warren Bounds marker / boundstone is inscribed HWB4. It was not recorded as found by R.G.Haynes in the 1970s. It was found recumbent in 1987 with the inscription facing down into the turf. After being re-erected in summer 1989 by a park ranger, it fell shortly afterwards. HWB4 is located at SX60318 65220. The fifth marker near Shavercombe Foot (HWB5) has never been located in modern times. The author (amongst many others) has searched for a fifth stone without success.Intriguingly, an OS Map from the turn of the 20th Century marks the fourth stone as having an inscription “H.W.B.L”, which is not really surprising if you look at the bound stone as the rudimentary ‘4’ does look like and ‘L’Returning back to Spanish Lake. If visiting Willings Walls Warren from the Trowlesworthy Tors area, it is likely this ford close to the longhouse and the ancient reave will be crossedFrom near the Spanish Lake ford, several of the pillow mounds (buries) associated with the warren can be seenMost of the records in the Devon Historic Environment state that the building at the end of the reave a short distance from Spanish Lake ford is a Medieval Longhouse. The Longhouse internally measures around 15m. by 4m, with the walls being 0.7m. thick and 0.5m. high. A single partition wall was recorded by the Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division in 1977 near the east end but this has been discounted by other Dartmoor observersThe small, coursed, boulders used for the construction of the walls of the longhouse were probably from the nearby destroyed ancient reave, which would have run across the site.There is a detailed interpretation provided by Probert and who state: ” (there is) a single entrance in the southern side. The eastern end of the building is divided from the remainder by a cross wall but there is no evidence for the division between the shippon and dwelling. Given the narrow approach to the entrance it would seem likely that if stock were kept they were probably housed in the adjacent structures”. The longhouse is located at SX58250 64570Connected to the longhouse is a possible outshut, on the south side, together with the remains of an enclosure, with a second enclosure, being built against the north wall.View looking east across the longhouse with the two enclosures and outshutThe north enclosure has been measured as 11 metres by 7 metres (OS) and 10 metres by 6.4 metres (Gerrard) The north enclosure comprises a 1.2 metre wide and 0.4 metre high rubble wallingThe south enclosure has been measured as 7 metres by 4 metres (OS)The outshut of the longhouse is 2 metres wide and in poor conditionThere is general consensus that the material for the longhouse came from Willings Wall reaveWillings Walls Reave has been described as a ‘contour type’ and its function seems to have been to separate the higher moorland from the grazing lands on the lower slopes. The exact route and length of the reave has been debated by many Dartmoor observers (from Fleming, Collis and Jones in 1973 to Gerrard and Thackray in the 1990s)The reave has been measured as being on average 1.7m in width and up to 0.75m in height, being visible as a turf-covered bank of stone and earth. It is considered to be nearly 2km in lengthThis unenclosed stone hut circle settlement was first registered by Historic England in November 1991. There are two pairs of huts conjoined, the rest are single and there are possible entrances to the south in some huts. The conjoined huts in the picture are at SX58453 64768.An unenclosed stone hut circle settlement consists of at least nine hut circles which range from 3m to 7m in diameter with walls of stone and earth 1m in width and up to 0.6m in height.This is one of at least a dozen pillow mounds, arranged in a row along the banks of Spanish Lake. Little Trowlesworthy Tor can be seen in the backgroundMany of the pillow mounds (buries) are now topped with reeds. All follow the classic construction of stone, earth and turf, being surrounded by a drainage ditchMore of the Spanish Lake pillow mounds. The Warren contains at least eighteen ‘buries’ or pillow mounds which all lie in proximity to a water course (Spanish Lake, River Plym or Hentor Brook)Close up of a pillow moundThe last of the pillow mounds adjacent to Spanish Lake heading west before the Lee Moor leat is reachedThe Lee Moor clay leat as it crosses the Spanish LakeThe Lee Moor clay leat looking across the Plym towards Legis TorLee Moor clay leat takes water from the Plym before being carried over and augmented by Hentor Brook and Spanish Lake. It runs for 4.4 km before emptying water into Big Pond. It is thought it might date from as early as 1809 with the opening of Bottle Hill MineBronze Age Settlement – There are 6 enclosures in the settlement – the one shown is Enclosure ‘D’ (ref; Butler) being an irregular rectilinear enclosure of 108 metres by 70 metres and 0.4 hectares in extent with one hut circleWithin the Enclosure ‘D’ of the settlement is a possible Medieval Longhouse (annotated as Building 1 on the sketch map in this post)The (longhouse) building is 6.2 metres by 3.8 metres internally with coursed boulder walls, 0.7 metres thick and 1.1 metres highThe possible Medieval Longhouse is centred at SX57900 65773The entrance to the longhouse is in the centre of the south west side. View here is towards Gutter TorNear Building 1 (longhouse) is a possible Vermin Trap. It certainly has a classic ‘X’ shapeThis rectangular structure (annotated Building 2 on the sketch map) measures 4.8 metres north-south by 2.4 metres with spread stony walls 0.9 metres wide and 0.5 metres high. It lies, north-west of the medieval longhouse site at SX57901 65812This is Enclosure ‘A’ (Butler) within the Bronze Age settlement. It is a sub-circular enclosure with internal diameters 110 metres by 96 metres and 0.8 hectares in area. The picture shows one of eleven hut circles which vary between 3.7 – 7.5 metres in diameterThe walling of Enclosure ‘A’ It is thought that Enclosure ‘A’ being the largest was main one and as the settlement expanded with extra huts, so further enclosures (‘B’ through ‘F’) were added around the outside. The picture shows one of the hut circles at the edge of Enclosure ‘A’The north edge of Enclosure ‘A’ overlooking Hentor Brook and Plym valleyThe junction of Hentor Brook and Lee Moor clay leat Hentor Brook flowing (left) into the leat. The brook is the boundary between Willings Walls Warren and Hentor Warren – amalgamated circa 1807Small wooden bridge crossing the Lee Moor clay leat, which once crossed enable access towards another Bronze Age settlement to the west of Hentor MeadowCommon Frog found near the leat and Hentor BrookPart of two incomplete enclosures with hut circles to the east of Hentor Brook. Within the two incomplete enclosures is a rectangular structure (annotated Building 3 on sketch map) which has an adjacent enclosure / yard Recorded by OS in 1978 : “……post-Medieval structure, possibly a shepherd’s hut. Internally the walls measure 7.2 metres by 3.2 metres and they are 0.9 metres wide and 0.7 metres high, entered from the south”. The enclosure (or annexe) immediately to the north of the building measures 3.9 metres by 3.5 metresThis building is centred at SX58233 65836 is considered to have been constructed using material taken from two nearby abandoned hut circles. The building measures 6.6 metres by 3.5 metres. Of note is that the building is located close to Hentor Brook where there is tin streamworking and one might assume it might have associations with tinworking. However, the presence of the warren and an associated enclosure with the building tends to discount anything associated with tinners’ A disturbed Hut Circle looking south over Hentor BrookAnother angle of the disturbed Hut CircleOne of nine hut circles and two enclosures in two distinct groups separated by a post medieval bank and ditch to the west of Hentor MeadowHut Cirlces overlooking the Plym towards Ditsworthy WarrenHut Circle with Ditsworthy Warren beyond. The dome of Eylesbarrow Hill can be seen on the horizonAnother Hut Circle looking south. The outline of Great Trowlesworthy can be seen on the horizon
