MMO3043 - Medieval or post-medieval field system northwest of Brightworthy Farm (Monument)

Former field boundary banks, potentially of medieval origin, can be seen on aerial photographs as earthworks and levelled earthworks to the west of Brightworthy, centred on circa SS 8273 3597. The removed or relict boundaries clearly form part of the wider field system associated with Brightworthy, and may have been laid out as a coherent system encroaching onto Withypool Common. Those boundaries transcribed on the relatively gentle slopes to the west of Brightworthy might been removed to increase field size and productivity, probably in the later post-medieval period. In contrast, those on the steeper slopes above the River Barle may be evidence for failed or abandoned enclosure of the former commons. Most of the transcribed boundaries have been levelled by the 1970s. [1-5] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [6]