MMO1948 - Possible medieval or post-medieval farmstead or field boundaries south of Hanging Lane (Monument)

Cropmarks visible on aerial photographs taken in 1947 and 1952 may indicate that this area of land had a different use prior to its inclusion in arable cultivation, perhaps in the medieval or early post-medieval period.

An area of differential crop growth is visible on aerial photographs within a area of a field roughly 40 metres square, defined by a dogleg in the course of Hanging Lane. The cropmarks, centred on circa SS 7084 4691, are very diffuse but may indicate that this area of field had a different use prior to its cultivation, perhaps as a farmstead or smaller field, around which the lane adapted its course. Faint cropmarks of possible field boundaries to the south of this area of disturbance may support the interpretation that this field had formerly been subdivided. Unfortunately these features are too diffuse to confidently transcribe. These features may be of similar date to possible former settlement earthwork remains visible roughly 100 metres to the southeast. [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]