Fairy hut was destroyed (8)
I believe the answer is:
perished
'destroyed' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are past participle verbs, I don't see how one could define the other.
'fairy hut' is the wordplay.
'fairy' becomes 'peri' (Persian mythological being).
'hut' becomes 'shed' (hut in a garden).
'peri'+'shed'='PERISHED'
'was' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for perished that I've seen before include "Ruined" , "Extremely cold - died - rotted" , "(Of rubber) forty three" , "dead - with 15a" , "Decayed, died" .)