MDE20627 - Post-medieval enclosure above Wild Pear Beach (Monument)

A sub rectangular banked enclosure is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs taken in the 1940s on the cliffs above Wild Pear Beach, Combe Martin. The enclosure, centred at SS 5822 4756, measures approximately 12 metres long by 10 metres wide. It is not shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, but is located in an area of post medieval enclosure, and from its dimensions appears to be the remains of a post medieval stock enclosure, similar to that at Lanacombe, but less elaborate. [1-4] The site was initially identified from aerial photographs as a rectangular structure, possibly a building. However it would seem to be a natural knoll that has been partly quarried, leaving a sub rectangular quarry. It is 15 metres long by approximately 6 metres wide and is located just inside the bounday fence above Wild Pear Beach. [5] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [6]