MEM22578 - Prehistoric ditch on Halscombe (Monument)

A prehistoric curvilinear hollow was visible during field investigation in 2012 and 2013, running around the east side of hut platform MEM22537. It may be associated with Bronze Age settlement features and is possibly a field boundary.

The Historic Environment Officer for the Exmoor Mires Project undertook a non-intrustive walkover survey of the proposed mire restoration area on Deer Park, which included this site. Noted was a curvilinear hollow running for 100 metres northwest to southeast from the edge of the steep slope down to Halscombe Water, around the east side of hut platform MEM22537. The hollow is 4 metres wide and 0.2 to 0.4 metres deep with a bank 3 metres wide and 0.25 metres high on the south side at its west end. It is cut by both MEM22561 and MEM22577. Its spatial associations with MEM22537 and MEM22538 suggest it is associated with the Bronze Age settlement features in the area. It is possibly a field boundary. [1] A large scale metric survey of an area of earthworks on Halscombe was undertaken by Hazel Riley in 2013 as part of the Exmoor Mires Project. A curvilinear hollow or ditch was surveyed, which runs for 100 metres northwest-southeast from the edge of the steep slope down to Halscombe Water around the east side of the nearby hut platform MEM22537. The hollow is 4 metres wide, 0.20 to 0.40 metres deep and has a bank 3 metres wide and 0.25 metres high on the south side at its west end. The hollow is cut by a prospecting trench (MEM22575) and a leat (MEM22577). Its spatial association with the hut platform MEM22537 and the way it mirrors the course of the prehistoric field bank or boundary MEM22538 suggest that this feature is associated with the Bronze Age settlement features and could be a field boundary which also provided access from Halscombe Water. [2]