MMO2251 - Possible clearance cairns on Codsend Moor (Monument)

Two small mounds in a small field enclosed during the post-medieval period are visible as low earthworks on aerial photographs of the 1970s. They may be Bronze Age barrows but are more likely to be medieval or a prehistoric clearance cairns.

Two small mounds are visible on aerial photographs as earthworks on the enclosed slopes of Codsend Moors, circa 850 metres to the south of Dunkery Beacon at circa SS 8906 4074 and SS 8911 4075. The mounds are roughly circular in shape with diameters of 12 metres and 10 metres respectively. The northern edge of the westernmost mound appears slightly eroded by the passage of a modern footpath. They are located in a small field enclosed during the post-medieval period and visible are as low earthworks on aerial photographs of the 1970s. On the 1st and 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1889 and 1903, this area is depicted as unimproved rough ground or pasture. The earthworks therefore probably predate the post-medieval enclosure of Codsend Moors and probably survived as the field in which they can be found was not subject to agricultural improvement until the twentieth century. It is possible the mounds are funerary mounds or barrows of Bronze Age date, but it is the opinion of this authority that an interpretation as clearance cairns associated with a medieval or a prehistoric attempt at improving the moors is more likely. [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]