MSO6714 - Almsworthy settlement (Monument)

Almsworthy settlement is recorded as Edmundeswarde in Domesday book, Almundesworthe in 1257 and Almandeswythi in the 1327 Lay Subsidy as well as other similar names. Listed on the tithe map as a farm but no buildings recorded. [1-3] It is not clear whether references to Almsworthy in the 1327 Lay Subsidy indicate a specific farmstead or village, or an area of farms with their own names. The place name would suggest a definite site somewhere, and Almsworthy is shown on the 1840 Tithe Map as a tithing and farm area, but without obvious farm buildings other than a small ?barn at SS 826 397 labelled Almsworthy. The extent of the land is from west of Wellshead to Westermill. [4] Morland gives the National Grid Reference for Almsworthy as SS 826 397. [5] The site of Almsworthy was not identified on the ground. The documentary evidence does not appear to give substance to the idea of a "village". Rather it is more likely that Almsworthy was a farm. Its site may be in the vicinity of, or incorporated in, the two surviving farms of Westermill and Wellshead and the deserted farmstead of Swarcombe. [7] On the Exford Tithe Map, what appears to be a small house (coloured pink, at c.SS 8259 3977) and an outbuilding (at c. SS 8260 3978) are depicted within a small land parcel situated by the roadside. The land parcel is labelled 265 and the accompanying Apportionment describes this as a "Homestead" within "Almsworthy" (or "?Armsworthy"). This was owned by John Clarke and occupied by John Hayes. The buildings and enclosure had been removed by the time the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map was surveyed. It is unclear whether the homestead was once part of a larger settlement. [3,8-10] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [11]