MDE20527 - Neals Down (Monument)

Building remains west of Higher Cott can be seen on aerial photographs dating to 1947. [1,2] Neals Down is shown on the 6 inch 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1890 [3]. It is described as "in ruins". At SS 6339 4573, in a lay by, are the remains of a stone building in the form of a wall 5.8 metres long and 3 metres high; the return westwards is visible at the southern end. The interior of the building is densely overgrown. [4] A building is depicted on the Tithe Map at SS63384572, with a small outbuilding slightly to the south. It is within a group of small enclosures; together, they are labelled 286. The accompanying Apportionment describes these as "Neels Downs: House and Gardens", owned by John Hoody Chichester Esquire and occupied by John Harding. [5] By the time the 25 inch 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map was surveyed, a parcel of land to the south of the site also appears to have been incorporated into the site but the building itself was by then ruinous. [6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7]