MSO8318 - Late prehistoric enclosure north of Hawkwell Farm (Monument)

A prehistoric hillslope enclosure on the end of a spur on Harwood Brakes. It measures 50 metres by 31 metres internally and is defined by ditches 8 metres wide and 0.8 metres deep. There are no traces of internal occupation.

A D-shaped enclosure on Harwood Brakes to the north of North Hawkwell Farm was identified from aerial photographs. [1,2] It is situated on the edge of a prominent scarp which drops away to the north and has extensive views to the north, east and west. The earthworks have a rounded appearance resulting from earlier ploughing, but they are still in a reasonable condition. A ditch c0.9 metres deep and c4-5 metres wide encloses an area of 55 metres by 35 metres. A later field boundary cuts through the east section of the site and to the east of this the earthwork is only partly visible as a very degraded bank. Only on the north side, where the natural slope is greatest, does there appear to be any evidence of an external bank, while in the southwestern corner there seem to be faint traces of an internal scarp. There are no traces of any earthworks inside the enclosure, but it is quite likely that the ploughing of the site would have disturbed any subtle features. The prominent position of this feature, together with the dimensions and overall shape, suggest that it is a prehistoric hillslope enclosure. The site has been protected from any further agricultural improvements. [3] A D-shaped enclosure on Harwood Brakes to the north of North Hawkwell Farm was surveyed by E. Dennison and V. Russett. The site is situated on the edge of a prominent scarp which drops away to north and has extensive views to the north, east and west. The site was first identified from aerial photographs. The earthworks have a rounded appearance resulting from earlier ploughing but nevertheless they are still in reasonable condition. A ditch averaging 0.9 metres deep and c5 metres wide encloses an area 55 metres by 35 metres. A later field boundary cuts through the eastern section of the site and to the east of this the earthwork is only partly visible as a very degraded bank. Only on the northern side, where the slope is greatest, does there appear to be any evidence of an external bank, while in the south-western corner there seem to be faint traces of an internal scarp. There are no traces of any earthworks inside the enclosure, but it is quite likely that the ploughing of the site would have disturbed any subtle features. The prominent position of this feature, together with the dimensions and overall shape, suggest that it is a prehistoric hillslope enclosure. The site has been protected from any further agricultural improvements. [4] It is centred at SS 9282 3999, and occupies the end of a broad ridge called Harwood Brakes. It lies within an area of ?19th Century enclosure, occupying the corner of one of these fields. It is sub-oval in shape, measuring 50 metres by 31 metres (internally), and is defined primarily by ditches 8 metres wide and 0.8 metres deep. On the northwest there is an external counterscarp, whilst on the southeast there is an internal counterscarp, which can be traced along the southwest side before fading out. A single entrance is visible roughly midway along the southeastern side, marked by a causeway 4 metres wide across the ditch. The northeastern arm of the enclosure has been obscured by a field boundary, although a pronounced drop on the eastern side of the boundary may perpetuate it. There are no traces of internal occupation, although the southwestern end appears to be slightly levelled, which may indicate a building platform here. The classification as prehistoric hillslope enclosure seems correct, although two unusual factors are worth noting: firstly, it is more common for these sites to have stronger ramparts, and this might indicate that the site has been levelled or robbed (perhaps as part of later agricultural improvement); secondly its topographic position on the end of a spur is uncommon. Surveyed at 1:2500 scale, July 1997. [5] The hillslope enclosure is visible, as described above, as an earthwork on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards and has been transcribed as part of the Exmoor National Mapping Programme survey. However, it has been mislocated and is actually sited at SS 9282 4099. On the basis of the aerial photographs available to the NMP survey, little evidence for the southeastern internal counterscarp described above can be seen, although a possible external counterscarp may be visible. [1,6-7] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [8]