MMO3128 - Possible early post-medieval field boundary on Mounsey Hill (Monument)

An irregularly linear ditch visible on aerial photographs as an earthwork is probably evidence of a grubbed up former field boundary of post-medieval date, predating the very regular probable 19th Century extant enclosure.

An irregularly linear ditch is visible on aerial photographs as an earthwork on Mounsey Hill, centred at circa SS 8911 3173. The ditch is between 5 and 13 metres wide and can be seen running in a roughly north to south direction for approximately 500 metres. The northern end of the earthwork abuts a field boundary that continues to the northwest is on a similar orientation for several hundred metres. It is likely that this earthwork is evidence of a former southern continuation of this field boundary, probably grubbed up to facilitate the establishment of the very regular enclosure now visible in this area, probably in the 19th Century. The earthworks have been almost completely levelled by the 1950s. [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]