MMO2356 - Post-medieval leat northeast of Warren Farm (Monument)

A post-medieval leat or drainage ditch is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs northeast of Warren Farm, Exmoor. Beginning at SS 7967 4090, the leat runs approximately northeast to southwest, downslope towards Warren Farm, fading from view at SS 7955 4083. It measures approximately 140 metres long, and appears to have been designed to channel water from the stream to Warren Farm. It may have been part of a power source for a threshing barn known to have existed at Warren Farm. A mill leat has been recorded in this area and it is possible that this leat is a section of it; however, the mill leat described by Somerset County Council Historic Environment Record is not visible. It may also have supplied water to one of the water meadow systems in the area, via the farmyard at Warren so that manure and fertilisers could be spread from the yard to the meadows. [1,2] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. N.B. [2] states the Somerset HER recorded a mill leat in this area. The mill leat appears to be MSO10952, which runs on the western side of the farmstead and is clearly a separate feature. [3,4]