MDE21800 - Post-medieval shippon north of Twitchen Farm (Monument)

The site of a building with a narrow enclosure to the south shown on the 25 inch 1st Edition Ordnance Survey maps. [1,2] The structure is still present as an outline on modern maps. [3] A ruined building and associated semicircular enclosure are visible on aerial photographs in fields north of Twitchen Farm, Challacombe. Centred at approximately SS 7003 4160, the building measures approximately 6 metres long by 4 metres wide. A possible entranceway is visible in the south wall. The enclosure faces this entranceway, measuring 20 metres long and 15 metres wide at is widest point. It appears that the entraceway forms a yard or holding area outside the barn. The building is depicted on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map; however, the enclosure is not shown. The features most likely represent the remains of a field barn and holding pen or enclosure, probably dating to the post-medieval period. It is not clear when the building was abandoned, although it was clearly sometime prior to 1995. [1,4,5,6] The Tithe Map for Challacombe shows a small rectangular building with a small enclosure to its south in this location. The features are labelled 906, which the accompanying Apportionment describes as "Tenement in Swincombe: Shippen and Court (Waste)", owned by Earl Hugh Fortescue and occupied by Nathaniel Vellacott. [7] The remains of the shippon and enclosure are visible on 2021 MasterMap data. [8] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [9]