MMO2910 - Medieval or post-medieval hollow way or road northwest of Buttery Farm (Monument)

An extremely well-preserved hollow way or road is visible on aerial photographs as an earthwork. It is possible that this hollow way represents the the original route of the road past Fyldon Common, with a junction leading to Buttery Farm.

An extremely well preserved hollow way or road is visible on aerial photographs as an earthwork running from Gravel Pit Cross to just northwest of Buttery Farm, North Molton. Beginning at approximately SS 7615 3555, just west of Gravel Pit Cross, the feature is first visible as a sunken track running northwest to southeast. After about 125 metres however, the trackway is surrounded by a narrow bank which continues on both sides for about 90 metres. The southern bank forms part of the adjacent filed boundaries and as such remains visible well into the 20th Century. The northern bank is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs taken in 1964, but on later photographs this has apparently been ploughed out. The total length of the road or hollow way is over 660 metres, with the width varying from 2 to 12 metres. The feature forms a T-junction with two similar tracks, one running south from Buttery Farm and one running east-west from Buttery Wood, and in several places is overlain by post-medieval field boundaries. It is possible that this hollow way represents the the original route of the road past Fyldon Common, with a junction leading to Buttery Farm. The route is shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1889, but terminates before reaching Gravel Pit Cross, essentially forming a "dead end," which suggests that it was not in regular use at this point. [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]