MDE11474 - Medieval or post-medieval field system at South Radworthy (Monument)

A field system in a minor east to west valley and covering about 28 hectares is shown on historic mapping. It comprised a number of narrow curving fields aligned up the valley sides, probably fossilising an earlier strip field system.

A field system centred at SS 7440 3250 and covering approximately 28 hectares is depicted as existing fields on the Ordnance Survey 1st Edition 6 inch map of 1890 [1]. The field system is contained by roads on the north, east and south sides, by woodland on the west. The settlement of South Radworthy lies at its northeast corner. The field system, lying within a minor west to east valley, comprises a number of narrow curving fields, running roughly north to south up and down the valley sides. These are in part articulated by west to east boundaries, which run with the contour. A number of the field boundaries have now been removed, and the system is consequently much less intelligible on the ground. Some of the removed boundaries survive as lynchets. [1,2] The field system described above was seen on aerial photographs from the 1940s, examined as part of the Exmoor National Park National Mapping Project. However, it was not mapped as part of the project as it is clearly depicted on the Ordnance Survey first edition map of 1890. [3-5] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [6]