Site Event/Activity record EEM14147 - 2013: GPS - Hoaroak Valley landscape study

Technique(s)

Organisation

Hazel Riley

Date

June 2013

Description

Hoaroak Cottage, an abandoned 19th Century farmstead, has been the focus of informed conservation work by the Exmoor National Park Authority in 2010-13. It lies at the heart of the Hoaroak Valley, which contains a wealth of historic landscape features reflecting the importance of this part of Exmoor from the Neolithic period onwards. Numerous standing stones and stone settings were placed around the valley around 6000 years ago, and several large burial cairns were used by medieval farmers to mark out the boundaries of their fields. Four Bronze Age round houses, an enclosure and several fields, lie at the heart of a newly discovered settlement complex on the west facing slopes of Cheriton Ridge, opposite Hoaroak Cottage. Routes across Exmoor Forest towards Brendon and the coast used the valley and the higher ground on Exe Plain, and by c. AD 1200 a hamlet of two farms was established close to the prehistoric settlements on Cheriton Ridge. These farms worked two large blocks of fields, growing arable crops and keeping livestock, until c. AD 1400. Periodic cultivation of these fields continued in the post-medieval period.

Sources/Archives (3)

  • <1> Report: Riley, H.. 2013. Hoaroak Valley: Historic landscape survey and analysis.
  • <2> Archive: Historic England. 2016. NRHE to HER prototype website test. 1586858.
  • <3> Digital archive: Historic England. Various. National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) entry. 1586858, Extant 6 July 2016.

Map

Location

Location Hoaroak Valley, Exmoor
Grid reference Centred SS 7427 4346 (1578m by 2730m) MasterMap
Map sheet SS74SW
Civil Parish BRENDON, NORTH DEVON, DEVON
Civil Parish LYNTON AND LYNMOUTH, NORTH DEVON, DEVON
Civil Parish EXMOOR, WEST SOMERSET, SOMERSET

Related Monuments/Buildings (46)

  • 19th Century ironstone workings southwest of Gammon's Corner (Monument)
  • 19th Century prospecting pit overlooking Hoaroak Water (Monument)
  • 19th Century trial pit overlooking Hoaroak Water (Monument)
  • Bronze Age burial cairn above Long Chains Combe (Monument)
  • Bronze Age burial cairn on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Bronze Age burial cairn on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Bronze Age burial cairns north of Long Chains Combe (Monument)
  • Bronze Age field system on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Bronze Age hut platform on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Bronze Age hut platform on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Bronze Age hut platform on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Bronze Age hut platform on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Four clearance cairns on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Furzehill Common II: Prehistoric stone setting on Furzehill Common (Monument)
  • Furzehill Common III: Prehistoric stone alignment and associated burial cairn (Monument)
  • Hoar Oak Cottage; 19th Century house and yard at entrance to Long Chains Combe (Monument)
  • Hoar Oak Tree (Tree)
  • Hoaroak Cottage, Lynton (Building)
  • Hoaroak Hill Sheepfold (Monument)
  • Late prehistoric enclosure and field system south of Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Late prehistoric stone setting on Hoaroak Hill (Monument)
  • Medieval field system on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Medieval or post-medieval field system on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Medieval or post-medieval prospecting trench in Hoaroak Valley (Monument)
  • Medieval or post-medieval routeway on the west slopes of Furzehill Common (Monument)
  • Medieval platforms south of Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Possible reused prehistoric stone gate post north of Hoaroak Cottage (Monument)
  • Post-medieval catchwater leat on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Post-medieval field system at Hoaroak Cottage (Monument)
  • Post-medieval or modern sheep fold south of Hoaroak Cottage (Monument)
  • Post-medieval peat cutting east of Hoaroak (Monument)
  • Post-medieval peat cutting on Furzehill Common (Monument)
  • Post-medieval peat cutting west of Hoar Oak Cottage (Monument)
  • Post-medieval quarry near Gammon's Corner (Monument)
  • Post-medieval quarry south of Hoaroak Cottage (Monument)
  • Post-medieval stone working site east of Hoaroak Water (Monument)
  • Post-medieval turf cutting at Hoaroak Farm (Monument)
  • Post-medieval water meadow east of Hoaroak Cottage (Monument)
  • Prehistoric standing stones on Furzehill Common (Monument)
  • Prehistoric stone setting northwest of Hoaroak Cottage (Monument)
  • Prehistoric stone setting on Exe Plain (Monument)
  • Prehistoric stone setting on Furzehill Common (Monument)
  • Prehistoric stone setting on Hoaroak Hill (Monument)
  • Probable Bronze Age burial cairn on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • Probable Bronze Age field system on Cheriton Ridge (Monument)
  • The Linton Road, Exmoor (Monument)

Parent/preceding Site Events/Activities (1)

  • 2013: HBR - Hoar Oak Cottage, Moorland Landscape Partnership Scheme

Record last edited

Sep 28 2021 10:19AM