MMO343 - Possible prehistoric enclosure or undated natural feature on Barham Hill (Monument)

SS 7025 4592. A lush marked ditch cut by modern hedge seen by McDonnell on aerial photographs on Barham Hill. Thought to indicate a subcircular enclosure. [1,2] SS 7026 4592. In a well ploughed pasture field on the gentle western slopes of Barham Hill about 290 metres above Ordnance Datum are the remains of an ill defined oval platform. The eastern uphill side is defined by a curving scarp about 0.5 metres high cut back into the slope and there is an apron scarp of similar height around the lower western side. Due to the ploughing the features are indistinct and no acurate measurements are obtainable however it appears to have been approximately 34 metres north to south by 28 metres internally. There is no evidence of a ditch or bank or any vegetation marks. The platform is bisected east to west by a modern field wall which has been partly robbed to the west. This is the site seen by McDonnell and is possibly the remains of a prehistoric enclosure. Surveyed at 1:2500. [3,4] Following examination of all available aerial photographs for this area as part of the Exmoor National Park National Mapping Programme survey, it is the opinion of this authority that the feature recorded here is probably of non-archaeological origin. Specifically, the impression of an enclosure was probably caused by a combination of variations in surface topography and vegetation or fungus rings. [5,6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7]