MMO737 - Medieval or post-medieval deserted settlement west of Leigh Farm (Monument)

A deserted settlement, including building foundations, enclosures, trackway, fields, field boundaries and ridge and furrow. The site is probably of medieval or post-medieval date and is clearly visible on aerial photographs taken in 1947.

Site of a deserted settlement, probably of medieval or post-medieval date is clearly visible on vertical air photographs. The site is centred at SS 9554 3352, where a complex of building foundations is visible, lying on the southern side of a double-banked trackway which appears to run northward for 300 metres, disappearing at SS 9563 3380. To the south of the central complex of buildings at SS 9550 3348, is a rectangular enclosure, 20 metres by 15 metres, which has been incorporated into the northern bank of a rectilinear field. Remnants of a banked field system associated with this settlement are visible at SS 9557 3325, SS 9540 3334, SS 9573 3360 and SS 9592 3375, including two fields of ridge and furrow at SS 9593 3369. This site was identified during the Brendon Hills mapping project and was previously unrecorded, despite being clearly visible on vertical aerial photographs. [1-4] This site lies at the head of the valley of the Pulham River. It is approached from the north by a track surviving as the farm lane to Leigh Farm, and thence southwards as a hollow way. The hollow way enters the head of the combe and is immediately lost amongst disturbance caused by successive springs, many of them puddled by animals, and a series of former animal troughs. Platforms are visible, but these appear to be associated with the springs rather than desertion. However, the presence of the hollow way and fields combined with the favourable position for settlement supports the idea that this may well be the site of a desertion. To the south, the fields noted above are visible as banks 0.4 metres high and lynchets. [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]