MSO11771 - Spangate Farmstead, Wootton Courtenay (Monument)

The site was abandoned during the first half of the 20th Century. The remains of several buildings are still visible. It was previously suggested the farmstead was within a prehistoric enclosure but this has been disproved.

Characteristic small enclosures shown on Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division 6 inch map with a ""well"" marked. ""Spangate Land"" and ""Spangate Lane"" marked on Ordnance Survey 6 inch map. [1] Mentioned in the Court Rolls of 31 Henry VIII (1539-40). [2] Was a farmhouse with 106 acres in 1844. [8] The 1903 Ordnance Survey 25 inch map [3] shows an oval enclosure with buildings reached by a narrow track to the south. Earthworks and ruined buildings on the site remain within a roughly oval enclosure. There is a spring on the edge of this enclosure and a deep holloway links the farm to the moorland mentioned in the Court Rolls. (Fieldwork M Aston 20th December 1976). [4] Low banks and broken walls forming an irregular enclosure, with suggestions of subdivisions and possibly building remains. It may be a deserted farm site? Spangate deserted farm site, 3/43/06, 1989. [5-7] Spangate is shown as a farmhouse with 106 acres on the 1844 Tithe Map. [8] Shown as extant on the Ordnance Survey 1809 1 inch map. [9] SS 921415. Remains of a deserted farm, probably Medieval, called Spangate, situated in a roughly circular enclosure which may be a hillslope enclosure. Approached from the south by a hollow way. (Spangate is shown as an extant farm on Ordnance Survey 1 inch 1809, and remains of it survive as detail on Ordnance Survey 1:10000 1974, at SS 9210 4147, with 'Spangate' placenames surrounding it. No circular enclosure shows on Ordnance Survey aerial photographs 1970, the farmstead itself being largely obscured by trees). [10-12] Spangate is a deserted farmstead - local information suggets that it was abandoned during the first half of the 20th century. The overgrown ruins of several buildings are extant although robbing and general collapse have confused the remains. The alleged enclosure appears to have been little more than field boundaries defining the extent of the farmyard. There is no field evidence to suggest an enclosure of any kind. [13] Spangate farmstead is clearly shown on the 25 inch 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map. [14] A few of the field boundaries around the farm are still depicted on the 2020 MasterMap data. [15] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [16]