MDE11929 - Higher Slocombeslade Farm, Brendon (Monument)

SS 7716 4672. Aerial photographs show that a building was removed between 1947 (when it was roofed) and 1977 (when it was visible as a parch mark). The Ordnance Survey map shows that it was named "Higher Slocombeslade". [1-3] The 25 inch 1st Edition Ordnance Survey mapping shows a single building with associated paddocks at SS 7716 4671 [4]; it is named Higher Slocombeslade. All that remains at the National Grid Reference cited, is a collapsed structure, possibly an agricultural building. However, the attaching of a placename to the site suggests that it was formerly a farm or other settlement site. [5] A structure and associated earthworks of probable post-medieval date are visible on aerial photographs centred on circa SS 7715 4669. The structure, a rectangular building roughly 11 metres long and 5 wide, is upstanding in 1952 but has been levelled and many of the surrounding field boundaries removed by 1976. The associated earthworks include field boundaries, a water meadow system of a type known locally as a catchwater system and a possible circular building platform. This complex probably comprised the former farmstead of Higher Slocombeslade as postulated by [5] above. The circular platform at SS 7715 4669 is approximately 8 metres in diameter. It appears to abut the rectangular structure and is likely to be a building platform, but its function is unclear. The field boundaries are visible as low banks to the southwest and east of the building, subdividing the extant fields into rectilinear fields, some with curvilinear boundaries. Three catchwater gutters extend for approximately 130 metres down the combe to the east. A possible carriage gutter is visible for approximately 350 metres descending from Tippacott Ridge in the west. This feature, marked on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map [4], but extending further west than remains visible, may be part of the water supply for Higher Slocombeslade's water meadow. By 1947 this channel is no longer visible to the west of Tippacott Ridge and has been severely damaged on the Ridge by the passage of military vehicles during Second Wold War training activities. The watermeadow gutters remain visible on aerial photographs of 1996 but, along with all other features, cannot be seen on Google Earth and may have been levelled. [6-11] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [12]