MSO11035 - Medieval or post-medieval field boundary on Ware Ball (Monument)

The remains of a substantial bank with ditch on the north and western side running from River Exe across Ware Ball. It predates the 19th Century field system. Varies between 1.5 metres and 0.5 metres high and is 4 to 5 metres wide. Ditches are shallow. [1-5] The remains of a substantial boundary bank on Ware Ball, Exmoor parish, are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. The boundary is overlain by, and therefore probably predates, the extant field system of probable 19th Century origin. The visible boundary is circa 660 metres long, centred on circa SS 8081 4051. On the steeper south facing slopes of Ware Ball above the River Exe, the boundary is defined only by an erosion gulley for almost 200 metres. The remainder of the boundary is visible as a bank up to six metres wide, heading in a northeastern direction towards Rams Combe. The Somerset HER [above, 1-5] describes the earthwork as standing 0.5 to 1.5 metres high, with a shallow ditch to the northwest side of the bank. The ditch is not clearly visible on the majority of the available aerial photographs but can be seen on aerial photographs of the 1960s as a possible cropmark. [1,6,7] 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]