MSO11555 - Medieval shrunken village at Yearnor (Monument)

A small hamlet was visible on aerial photographs and the 1841 Porlock Tithe Map, with holdings recorded as being named Yearner Stowey, Ridlers and Clayers. Earthworks in the vicinity have been ascribed to medieval settlement remains.

A series of banks and surface irregularities were visible on aerial photographs, centering on Yearnor Farm. [1-3] SS 8477 4773. Yearnor (no action taken). [4] Aston speculated in 1977 that there may have been two further farms at this location. [5] The 1841 Porlock Tithe map shows Yearnor as being much larger with holdings called Yearner, Yearner Stowey, Ridlers and Clayers. It was clearly a small hamlet which has since decayed. [6,7] Yearnor was a manor at the time of King John and is mentioned before 1400. King John afforested the manor. [8] The medieval shrunken village is not clearly visible on aerial photographs, although there are some anomalous earthwork features to the south of the Yearnor Farm, centred SS 8478 4760. It is unclear where the series of banks referred to are located. [9,10] The settlement had reduced in size between the publication of the Porlock Tithe Map and the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map so that only a few buildings survived in the northern area of the settlement, in the area ascribed to Yearner and Yearner Stowey; at this point, the settlement is simply named Yearnor. This layout is again repeated on the 2nd Edition Map but the buildings have again been scaled back since this date, with some of them apparently replaced by a larger modern agricultural building to the north of the site. [7,11-13] The site was visited in January 1997. It was suggested the house may contain a piece of an ancient one and had a slate hung elevation and big end chimney breast. A barn to the north of the farmhouse had been converted. Below and separate were the remains of a yard with two ranges of plain and pleasant 19th Century buildings, with the other side of the yard had apparently been demolished to allow the creation of a 20th Century covered yard. [14] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [15]