MEM22553 - Post-medieval prospecting feature on Deer Park (Monument)

The Historic Environment Officer for the Exmoor Mires Project undertook a non-intrustive walkover survey of the proposed mire restoration area on Deer Park, which included this site. Noted was a linear hollow with an associated mound on its western side. The hollow is 8 metres northeast by southwest, 2 metres northwest by southeast and 0.5 metres deep; the mound is 6 metres northwest by southeast and 0.5 metres deep. It is best interpreted as a small prospecting feature probably dating to the 19th Century. [1] A large scale metric survey of an area of earthworks on Wintershead was undertaken by Hazel Riley in 2012 as part of the Exmoor Mires Project. A linear hollow with an associated mound on its west edge was surveyed, this lies between the track and the mire, close to the gate, at Wintershead. The hollow measures 8 metres northeast-southwest, 2 metres northwest-southeast and is 0.5 metres deep. The mound is 6 metres northeast-southwest, 2 metres northwest-southeast and is 0.5 metres high. The feature could be associated with draining the gateway and access track, but is most likely to be a small trial trench prospecting for ironstone dating from the mid 19th Century. [2]