MMO2284 - Possible Bronze Age barrows or clearance cairns above East Water Valley (Monument)

Four mounds, visible as earthworks on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards, may be the remains of mutilated round barrows or clearance cairns of Bronze Age date, or otherwise natural geological outcrops.

Four mounds are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards, on the lower slopes of Dunkery Hill above East Water Valley. The mounds are arranged in a north to south orientated row, spaced between 45 and 65 metres apart, ascending Dunkery Hill from an elevation of circa 300 metres to about 340 metres above Ordnance Datum. The three northernmost mounds measure between 18 and 23 metres in diameter, their shapes ranging from roughly circular to oval or oblong, and may be the remains of mutilated round barrows of Bronze Age date. They are located at circa SS 8951 4277, SS 8950 4271 and SS 8953 4267. At 7 metres in diameter the fourth mound is by far the smallest in this group and may be the remains of a clearance cairn, also potentially of prehistoric date. Alternatively, all four mounds may simply be natural geological outcrops created from banding within the underlying sandstone and field investigation is required to confirm or disprove their interpretation as archaeological features. [1-4] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [5]