Low water at Devon's Fernworthy Reservoir reveals Bronze Age stone huts

Left · 2Water levels at Fernworthy Reservoir in Devon dropped to just 30% of its total capacity after the summer's intense heatwave. 1 2 Left · 2As a result, remains and imprints of Bronze Age stone huts can be seen in the earth of the reservoir basin. 1 2 Left · 1The Daily Mirror says the water is at its lowest in decades. 2

Left · 2Humans have lived around Dartmoor since at least 2300BC, and the area has some of the highest concentrations of Bronze Age settlements in the country. 1 2 Left · 2By 2500BC farmers had begun clearing woodland and building stone circles and villages of stone roundhouses; by around 1000BC the land had been over-exploited and become waterlogged, and many settlements were abandoned. 1 2 Left · 2Fernworthy Reservoir was built in 1942, covering around 76 acres and holding 380 million gallons of water, which hid the remains of the abandoned villages. 1 2

Left · 1The Mirror reports the remains have re-appeared only a handful of times since, including in the 1976 drought summer, and that hut circles and stone structures were also spotted along the banks in 2022. 2 Left · 1The Mirror adds that this year's dry weather has exposed other lost structures, including stonework and building outlines at Nether Hambleton beneath Rutland Water in August. 2 Left · 1The Mirror also reports that 11 areas of England remain under Environment Agency drought status, with more than 70% of England's population living in affected areas; Yorkshire was the latest added, on Thursday. 2

Left · 1Metro, for its part, notes the UK is still recovering from severe drought and says a possible 'polar vortex' this winter, linked to a forecast strong El Niño, could bring a very different season. 1