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Description: Steve Grigg (2026) writes: “With the prolonged drought in the Summer of 2026, the water level of Avon reservoir dropped significantly enough to enable a ‘Monastic Homestead’ to be uncovered and to be explored. It is shown on old 19th century maps as a rectilinear structure to the south east of ‘Brockhill Foot West enclosure’ (a name penned by Jeremy Butler in the 1990’s in his Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities – The South East)… The homestead was excavated under the direction of Lady Aileen Fox in 1956, before it was inundated with water from the River Avon as a result of the construction of the Avon Dam (which was completed in 1957). The homestead comprises four main compartments connected to a common northern wall and has an entrance to a southern courtyard (or paddock) in the south-east wall. The four main compartments are labelled ‘byre’, ‘yard’, ‘house’ and ‘pen’ with the ‘paddock’ to the south. The homestead is thought to date to the Medieval period an covers an area of some four acres.”

Acknowledgement:

• Grigg, S. (2026): Dartmoor Explorations Facebook Page

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