MMO1813 - Medieval lynchets northwest of Woody Bay Station (Monument)

A pair of well defined curvilinear lynchets are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs in fields to the northwest of Woody Bay Station. Centred at SS 6777 4653, the lynchets parallel the contour of a north facing slope at 260 metres. At SS 6782 4652, the lynchet measures approximately 66 metres in length and 2.5 metres wide, while the lynchet at SS 6772 4656 measures 98 metres long and 2.5 metres wide. Both are aligned approximately east to west. They are most likely to date to the medieval period; neither are depicted on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, and the area is shown as open moorland, indicating that these lynchets may have been part of a medieval cultivation attempt on the moor. [1-3] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [4]