MMO2000 - Medieval or post-medieval field system on the north facing slopes of Wind Hill (Monument)

Fragmentary field boundaries are visible on aerial photographs as low linear earthwork banks on the steep north facing slopes of Wind Hill, overlooking the sheer cliffs of Lynmouth Bay, at circa SS 7363 4942. The earthworks are potentially the remains of two phases of field system, of medieval or post-medieval date. Several elements of the field system to the south of the A39, centred on circa SS 7359 4940, are on a similar alignment to extant, probably post-medieval field boundaries to the south on the upper slopes of Wind Hill, and may have been laid out or enclosed at a similar time. The destruction of some sections of bank by quarrying, probably for road building material, attests to the fact that these earthworks probably predate the construction of the A39. Nonetheless, a roughly east to west boundary within this complex may indicate that the route of the road was to some extent dictated by the existing field patterns. Several less regularly arranged earthworks to the north of the A39 may be remains of an earlier, medieval system of strip field cultivation. [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]