MMO1951 - Medieval field boundary west of High Bullen (Monument)

A field boundary, potentially of medieval origin, is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs to the west of High Bullen, at SS 7071 4662. It is not marked on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1890, but is clearly part of the same field system as two field boundaries immediately to the north, which survived until the mid 20th Century. Its sinuous or curvilinear boundary shape is characteristic of fields with origins as strip fields in the medieval period. [1-3] On the 1946 aerial photographs the boundary mentioned by [3] can be seen to be the southernmost of three equally spaced curving boundaries which together clearly represent the enclosure of former arable strip cultivation. [4] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [5] LiDAR was assessed in advance of new rights of way being developed as part of the Exmoor Heartlands landscape recovery programme. In the course of this it became evident that the medieval field system extended further to the west/southwest and the mapping of this monument was adapted accordingly. [6]