MMO2549 - World War Two military training site at Deer Park (Monument)

Evidence of military training of Second World War date is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s, in the form of small rectangular and v-shaped slit trenches. They are unlikely to be related to the activities of Exmoor firing range.

Evidence of military training of Second World War date at Deer Park, Oare parish, is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s. The evidence takes the form small rectangular and v shaped slit trenches up to 4 metres long and 1 wide, over an area of approximately 8 hectares, centred approximately on SS 80024483. The function of any of the slit trenches and the nature of the training activities which occurred here remain unclear. These features are scattered between areas of dense concentrations of craters probably associated with the firing ranges to the east, and are difficult to differentiate from crater earthworks. However they are unlikely to be related to the activities of Exmoor firing range. A second area of very similar features, probably part of the same training area, is visible approximately 400 metres to the south. The trenches cannot be seen on aerial photographs taken later than the 1940s, and probable have either been levelled or are obscured by vegetation. [1-2] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [3]