MMO2504 - Medieval field boundaries or livestock enclosures northeast of Alderman's Barrow (Monument)

Low earthworks visible on aerial photographs may be the remains of field boundaries or livestock enclosures of possible medieval date. Centred on circa SS 8376 4255, the earthworks may be associated with extensive and apparently long standing hollow ways or tracks immediately to the south. The banks appear to form a barrier or boundary across one of the few natural routes into the former Royal Forest of Exmoor from the northeast, in particular the Vale of Porlock, and may have been involved in the regulation or management of livestock as it passed into or exited from the Forest. The subtle earthworks are visible only on aerial photographs of 1952 but may be obscured by vegetation on later images. [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. [3]