Blackcoombe Farm Transhumance Hut

Overview

This small hut, hidden in the hills west of Blackcoombe Farm, dates back to the early medieval period, between the 5th and 11th centuries. It was part of a practice called transhumance, where herders moved their animals up onto the moor during the summer months to graze. The hut, now a small circular heap of stone, was once used as shelter by people tending cattle or sheep. It sits near older prehistoric field systems and a large medieval enclosure, part of the wide and complex archaeological landscape of Bodmin Moor.

Blackcoombe Farm Transhumance Hut was part of Cornwall National Landscape’s A Monumental Improvement Project, which aimed to ensure that 40 scheduled monuments across Cornwall National Landscape were better protected, identified and enjoyed by a wider range of people. Between 2022 – 2025, the Project delivered conservation repairs, installed new heritage interpretation signage, ran a range of community volunteering events and developed new website resources. The Project was primarily funded thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with support from our other partners – Cornwall Council, Historic England, The National Trust, Cornwall Heritage Trust and Cornwall Archaeological Society.

Historical Significance

Though the hut is only a few metres wide, it’s part of a much bigger picture of human occupation and use of the Moor. The site demonstrates a shift in settlement patterns where seasonal herding became more socially organised and left behind distinct structures. Unlike earlier, more permanent dwellings, transhumance huts were usually temporary seasonal shelters, but their construction in stone shows a commitment to annual grazing regimes and the importance of upland grazing to local economies and social organisation.

With over 250 transhumance huts known about in the UK, and at least 50 on Bodmin Moor, they form a key part of our understanding of medieval farming and the practices. This example is especially significant because it remains fairly undisturbed, preserving much of its original form and possible archaeological deposits. It offers archaeologists an important piece of the puzzle of how people managed livestock, moved through the landscape, and adapted to seasonal cycles in a challenging but resource-rich environment.

The hut also helps us understand how people used the landscape around them. It lies in an area full of archaeological interest, surrounded by prehistoric and medieval remains. That mixture of features from different time periods is testament to the way that Bodmin Moor has been a working landscape for thousands of years.

Looking after the site today is important, not just to protect what’s left, but to make sure this tiny site doesn’t get lost beneath the bracken and gorse.