MMO2868 - Post-medieval road or hollow way northwest of Stetfold Rocks (Monument)

Two parallel linear earthwork banks visible on aerial photographs might be the remains of a road or hollow way of post-medieval date. The feature could be a historic road, a continuation of the earlier course of the B3224, or a sheep dip.

Two parallel linear earthwork banks, visible on aerial photographs to the northwest of Stetfold Rocks at circa SS 8711 3888, might be the remains of a road or hollow way of post-medieval date. The banks are between 3 and 5 metres wide, flanking a central route on average 4 metres wide. The possible route is visible for over 200 metres, from where it appears to meet the Exford road (B3224) to the northwest, to its southeast end where it appears to abut a pond. The feature is interpreted here as an historic road, most likely a continuation of the earlier course of the B3224 to the north, where it can be seen to dogleg on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, prior to the modern straightening of the road. It may have been an early approach road to Stetfold Rocks. An alternative if less probable interpretation use is as an approach to an early sheep dip, a precursor to the modern feature some 10 metres to the north. Sheep dips were invented in Scotland in the 1830s, and the practise may have been transferred to Exmoor soon after. The earthworks are not marked on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map and it is therefore probable that the route, whatever its destination, had passed out of use some time prior to 1890. [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]