MSO7558 - Undated subcircular enclosure on Knowle Hill (Monument)

An enclosure of uncertain date on Knowle Hill, noted as a low bank or wall on aerial photographs taken in 1947. The area is now under coniferous plantation and no evidence was visible during field investigation in 1998.

An enclosure on Knowle Hill was recorded from air photographs at SS 965 439. [1,2] The area in question has since been afforested and is covered with densely planted conifers. There is no field evidence for an enclosure as far as can be ascertained. [3] A sub circular enclosure on Knowle Hill, Minehead, is defined by a low bank measuring approximately 2 metres wide, and enclosing an area of approximately 0.9 hectares. Two roughly parallel banks run north-south before opening out into a larger circular area. The bank is fragmented in places, particularly at the southern end, where a larger break in the bank may indicate an entranceway. The 20th Century conifer plantation has most likely destroyed all traces of this enclosure. [4,5] Aston depicts a site at this location classed as 'Ringwork possible and probable' on his distribution map of deserted farmsteads in West Somerset. [6]