MMO3156 - World War Two military training disturbance on Molland Common (Monument)

An extensive area of Molland Common, centred approximately on SS 813 308, can be seen to be covered by surface disturbances on aerial photographs of the 1940s. The disturbance is probably caused by Second World War military training activities and is visible as deep rutting from vehicle tracks, crossing the common and turning repeatedly in tight circling manoeuvres, eroding the ground surface. In the years following the war the tracks are soon obscured by vegetation and many have probably been levelled, but some may have left lasting scars on the ground surface. [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]