I found this post highly intriguing. I found myself wondering the date they suspect these courtyard houses were in use and if that has any bearing on the use of the “round” type houses. I also wonder which group of people were thought to live in these. Celts? Romans? Picts? Norse? Angles? Saxons? There were many groups in Britain through the time periods stated. Interesting…..
Found primarily west of the Hayle River in Cornwall, and on the Isles of Scilly, Courtyard Houses as a ‘type’ have been recognised by that name since about 1933. They date from the Iron Age and were in use for several hundred years, through the Romano-British period.
Each house follows a distinctive design: a paved entrance into an area with 4 or sometimes 5 distinct ‘rooms’ leading off it. Anti-clockwise from the entrance, these are usually: a small round room, a long narrow room (sometimes divided into two), a large round room opposite the entrance, often containing a fire hearth, and finally a bay area. There may also be a smaller oblong ‘storage’ room next to the entrance. The central ‘courtyard’ also often includes a stone water channel, usually paved over. The outer walls are often quite thick in places, and the overall shape of each house is an oval.
Whilst…
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