MSO10477 - Post-medieval leat on the east side of Pinkworthy (or Pinkery) Pond (Monument)

The east end of MSO7119 may be showing the correct course of a leat which is clearly visible as a grass covered bank and ditch approximately 34 metres long and running roughly east-west towards the northeast corner of Pinkworthy Pond. Approximately 26 metres to the east another section approximately 12 metres long with a rush filled ditch can be seen, the east end of this section is approximately 1 metre above the base of the combe and is cut by animal tracks and is very eroded, possibly due to natural slumpage. The area between these two sections is very waterlogged, covered in rushes and the north side of the longest section is very eroded. The course of the leat can be followed around the contours heading southwest along the east side of Pinkworthy Pond; this is completely Molinia covered and not really visible unless walked along for approximately 226 metres, until it becomes a large grass covered bank and ditch again above the southeast corner of Pinkworthy Pond. This section is approximately 2 metres high and the ditch 1 metre deep. At the north end of the bank a smaller grass covered bank approximately 14 metres long, 2 metres wide and up to 1 metre high runs along its west side. Animals and walkers are eroding a path along the top of this larger section of bank. The southern end of this bank is approximately 43 metres northeast of a gate in the east end of the boundary bank running along the top of the Pinkworthy Pond Dam. [1] This record and MSO7119 may have been confused by different contributors. [2] A linear bank with a dry ditch on the upslope side was noted during a non-intrustive walkover survey of the proposed mire restoration area on The Chains, undertaken by South West Archaeology as part of the Exmoor Mires Project. The low bank is c. 2 metres across and 0.4 metres high; the ditch is c. 1.4 metres across and 0.3 metres deep. This feature appears to run with the contour and was interpreted as a relict field boundary, possibly the same as MEM22586. [3] The Historic Environment Officer for the Exmoor Mires Project undertook a non-intrustive walkover survey of the proposed mire restoration area on The Chains, which included this site. Noted was a linear bank (a maximum of 2.2 metres wide and 2 metres high) with an associated ditch (a maximum of 3 metres wide and 1 metre deep) on the upslope side and reaching maximum dimensions at the southern end. This feature runs for 270 metres on the southern slopes of Pinkworthy (or Pinkery) Pond and was probably a channel designed to carry water away from the north face of the dam (Riley 2012, 16). Thus probably dates to early 19th Century. [4] A substantial linear earthwork lies on the east side of Pinkery Pond. It runs for some 270 metres from the bottom of an area of peat cutting close to Pinkworthy (or Pinkery) Pond dam (MEM22686) to the boggy area at the northeast end of Pinkworthy (or Pinkery) Pond. The southern portion is formed of a channel 3 metres wide and 1 metre deep, with a bank on its west (downslope) side 2.2 metres wide and 2 metres high. A further bank 1.7 metres wide, 1.8 metres high and 9 metres long lies at the northwest end. The northern part of the feature comprises a silted channel and is visible intermittently. This is a leat designed to carry water away from the north face of the Pinkworthy (or Pinkery) Pond dam. The smaller, lower bank was built to help retain the channel. The leat cuts the peat cutting (MSO10467) and is cut by the drainage channels (MMO2140). The leat dates to the early 19th Century and is directly associated with the construction of Pinkworthy (or Pinkery) Pond. It may have been built at the same as the dam was constructed (by c. 1830) to divert water away from the building work, or after it was completed if waterlogging of the dam became a problem. [5]