MSO10217 - Post-medieval field system at Mill Hill (Monument)

The earthwork remains of a field system lie on the eastern edge of Mill Hill, centred at SS 825 462. They form a block of five fields on the very steep north-facing scarp above Weir Water. Most of the dividing banks have been eroded by the steep, wide gullies formed by water erosion. The top boundary remains, this is a bank composed of earth and stone, 1.2 metres wide and 0.7 metres high, with a ditch to the south (upslope side). An isolated stretch of bank lies some 700 metres to the south at SS 8312 4525. The fields are post-medieval in date. None are shown on the 1st edition map of 1890 ([3]). They are similar in form and situation to those still in use as rough pasture to the west, now part of Oareford Farm, and were probably used for pasturing sheep and cattle. The remains were surveyed using differential GPS as part of an English Heritage survey of Mill Hill for the Exmoor National Park Authority. [1,2] A number of field boundaries are visible on aerial photographs as earthworks. In several places, especially where the boundaries run downslope the original field boundary has been eroded by flowing water, leaving a ditch or gully. Several boundaries survive as upstanding banks, but these are mostly those running along the top of Mill Hill. The boundaries are similar in form to other abandoned field systems on Mill Hill (see MSO7761 and MMO1241) which have been dated to the post-medieval period and appear to predate the main period of 19th Century enclosure on Exmoor. None of the boundaries are shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey of 1890 ([3]), suggesting that this attempt at enclosure was abandoned prior to the publication of the map. [4-7] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [8]