MMO2443 - Possible medieval parish boundary earthworks at north of Almsworthy Common (Monument)

Three roughly parallel linear banks are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs on the northern edge of Almsworthy Common, centred on circa SS 8400 4210. The date and function of the earthworks is unclear from the aerial photographs alone. However, it is probable that their western extent has been destroyed by an extensive area of peat extraction immediately to the west, and it is likely therefore that the linear features predate the heyday of industry, which has been placed in the first half of the 18th Century. The banks follow a course roughly parallel to the Exford/Luccombe parish boundary as it passes over the highest point of Almsworthy Common some 30 metres to the north. This may support a tentative interpretation of the remains as evidence of several phase of a former parish boundary bank, potentially medieval in date. [1,2] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [3]