MMO1864 - Medieval or post-medieval square enclosure south of Thornworthy (Monument)

A low earthwork bank defining a square enclosure of probable medieval or post-medieval date can be seen on aerial photographs. It may mark the extent of a former farmyard, indicating an aspect of settlement abandonment.

A low earthwork bank defining a square enclosure of probable medieval or post-medieval date can be seen on aerial photographs immediately to the south of Thornworthy, Lynton and Lynmouth parish, centred on circa SS 71064574. The enclosure bank is visible on photographs of the 1950s onwards, but by the 1970s appears less well defined, probably as a result of modern agricultural improvements. The bank encloses an area of roughly 2400 square metres (0.24 hectares) and may mark the extent of a former farmyard, indicating that Thornworthy might previously have been a small village or hamlet, and that some settlement abandonment has occurred. Earthwork evidence for strip fields immediately to the south may support this interpretation. [1-4] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [5]