Details

The monument includes an enclosed chambered dwelling site on the cliff top
above Jenny's Cove 560m south west of Tibbett's Lookout. There is a natural
spring 20m to the south and the enclosed area is tucked under a rock outcrop.
The settlement was partially excavated in 1967. This revealed an enclosure
16m in diameter with an outer wall of granite orthostats filled with rubble
and approximately 3m thick on the west, south and south east sides. A
sheltered entrance is formed by a gap on the east side. Within this enclosure
there are two chambers which may originally have had corbelled roofs. The
larger chamber has interior dimensions of 8m by 3m whilst the smaller chamber
is 2m in diameter internally. No finds were recorded. The type of building is
not found elsewhere on the island. The remains may be of an Iron Age hut or
small farmhouse or, as the excavator thought, a house comparable to a
Neolithic black house as found in the Hebrides.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Lundy is a small, steep sided island in the Bristol Channel, 16m north of
Hartland Point, north Devon. Aligned north-south, it is 6km long by 1km wide
and supports a predominately moorland vegetation. The 100m high cliffs and
tabular form give it a striking appearance, visible in clear weather from
parts of south west England and south Wales.
Lundy's remoteness and (until the 19th century construction of the Beach Road)
its inaccessibility, combined with a lack of shelter and cultivable soils, has
meant that it has escaped more recent occupation or development. It therefore
preserves a remarkable variety of archaeological sites from early prehistory
(c.8000 BC) onwards, representing evidence for habitation, fortification,
farming and industry. There are also archaeological remains in the waters
surrounding the island - over 150 shipwrecks are already recorded. Most of the
island's archaeology is well documented from detailed survey in the 1980s and
1990s.

The stone built settlement on the western cliffs of Lundy has similarities
with Iron Age examples in Cornwall and Neolithic structures in northern
Britain. No dating evidence has, however, been recovered from the site, and it
is the only one of its type on Lundy. The structure exhibits good survival and
high potential for the recovery of significant archaeological remains. These
will provide evidence for the construction and use of the monument and the
environmental conditions prevalent at the time.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Gardner, K, (1968)
Sheet 264, Nat. Trust Survey Field data sheet, (1991)
Thackray, D, (1996)

Source: Historic England