MMO2400 - Post-medieval clearance cairn or spoil heap on Prayway Meads (Monument)

A small circular mound is visible on aerial photographs in a fairly sheltered position and as such is unlikely to be a prehistoric funerary monument, but instead might be a spoil heap or clearance cairn associated with agricultural improvements.

A small circular mound is visible on aerial photographs on the south facing slopes of Prayway Meads, Exmoor. Centred at SS 7776 4127 and measuring approximately 7 metres across, the feature is in a fairly sheltered position and as such is unlikely to be a prehistoric funerary monument. It lies within an area of substantial 19th Century improvement activity, including enclosures and water meadows, constructed by Frederic Knight in the mid 19th Century after the families acquisition of the former Royal Forest of EXmoor, and may well be a spoil heap or clearance cairn associated with the construction of these features. The unfinished Exmoor Mineral Railway was intended to run close by this spot, and the construction of this large monument may also be related to the spoil heap or clearance cairn. [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]