MMO648 - Post-medieval field system at Woodcombe (Monument)

A post-medieval fragmentary field system is defined by banks and lynchets and represents an attempt to enclose and improve the land. The most impressive lynchet is 6 metres long and stands to about 2.5 metres high.

Centred at SS 9497 4735 in and around the head of Woodcombe is an extensive fragmentary field system representing attempts to enclose and improve the area in the post-medieval period. The remains comprise slight field banks on the open moor on the southern side of Hill Road, and immediately north of the improved land on Bratton Ball. In Woodcombe itself are further field banks and some lynchets, which seem to mark attempts to enclose the steeper slopes. The most impressive lynchet is at SS 9509 4696 running northsouth on steep east facing slopes. It is some 6 metres long and stands to about 2.5 metres high. Field system surveyed at 1:2500 scale as part of RCHME fieldwork on the Exmoor National Park holding on North Hill. [1,2] The field system referred to above [1,2] is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. The field system is centred at SS 9453 4734 and covers an area that measures 870 metres long by 480 metres wide at its widest points. A later road (MSO7609) constructed during the Second World War cuts through the field system and the military activities (MMO627) which took place here obscure any evidence of it further to the north. [3-5]