MMO2495 - Post-medieval peat cutting on Swap Hill (Monument)

Several small peat cuttings of probable post-medieval date can be seen as earthworks on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwardsas rectangular pits up to 20 metres long. They are probably associated with a larger group to the southeast.

Several small peat cuttings of probable post-medieval date can be seen as earthworks on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards, centred on circa SS 8169 4214, on Swap Hill. The pits are rectilinear in shape but vary in size from less than 5 metres long to up to 20 metres in length and over 10 wide. Similar but much more extensive cuttings can be seen to the north and east, and these cuttings are probably associated with a group approximately 250 metres to the southeast. Due to the difficult nature of the evidence which can vary in appearance on aerial photographs from year to year, the transcription attempts only to convey the general area of the excavations and character of pits and should not be taken as a definitive transcription of the extent of the cuttings. Peat cutting has probably taken place on Exmoor from the medieval period, although the heyday was probably in the first half of the 19th Century. Small scale cutting probably continued in some places well into the 20th Century. [1-3] A study of the archaeology and history of peat exploitation on Exmoor’s moorlands provides additional background on the practice and sites. [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]