MMO2144 - Post-medieval drainage ditches above Short Combe (Monument)

An area of complex post-medieval drainage ditches are visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks. They may date to the 19th Century. Several of the ditches appear to be associated with field banks and ditches (MMO2145).

An area of complex post-medieval drainage ditches are visible on aerial photographs as a series of earthworks on moorland above Short Combe to the north of Goat Hill, Exmoor. Centred at approximately SS 7285 4092 on both sides of a steep west facing valley above Short Combe, the ditches cover an area of approximately 8 hectares. They are similar in form and size to the parallel "herring-bone" pattern ditches seen elsewhere in the area, which are believed to date to the Knight family improvement of the area in the 19th Century. A large number of these "herring-bone ditches" were cut across large areas of Exmoor, particularly in the years after Frederic Winn Knight took over the estate in 1845. Several of the ditches appear to be associated with field banks, and it may be that this was a planned area of enclosure which was never completed, possibly related to Driver or Pinkery Farms. The field banks have been recorded separately as MMO2145. None of the features are depicted on the 1st or 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey maps. [1-6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7] An ecological study included peat depth sampling here [8]