MSO7342 - Undated subrectangular enclosure on Stoke Ridge (Monument)

A sub-rectangular enclosure measures 8 metres by 12 metres, and is defined by a turf-covered bank of 1 metre to 1.3 metres wide that overlaps on the northwest side to form an entrance. The date and function of the enclosure are uncertain.

SS 881 430. A low stone bank, forming a subrectangular feature approx 7.0 metres by 12.0 metres was recorded on the southeast side of Stoke Ridge by McDonnellin 1981. It is made of stone on the northeast side. The interior surface is levelled into the hillslope and there is a possible but unlikely entrance in the southeast corner. It may be a house site. [1,2] At SS 8807 4299 is a small enclosure of somewhat pentagonal form, at about 372 metres Ordnance Datum and oriented with a gentle southeast slope, below the summit of Stoke Ridge. Internally it measures 12 metres by 8 metres and is formed by a turf covered bank 1 to 1.3 metres wide and 0.2 to 0.3 metres high. This appears to be of earth and small rubble stones with a few larger ones.The southern length of bank is curved but the others are straight. The interior is levelled. A 4.5 metre gap along the south east side is not an entrance and seems to be the result of removal of the bank, traces of which are still visible. The true entrance appears to be in the northwest end where the bank overlaps for 3 metres, leaving an entrance way 1.2 metres wide. This, and a possible building stance 50 metres to the south (MSO7341), are listed as prehistoric by [1,2] but the unusual form of the enclosure suggests a later date and even some type of fold seems not impossible. [3,4] Exactly as described by [3], except that it appears to be too small to be classified as a fold. Surveyed with GPS. [5-6] A small sub-rectangular enclosure on the south-east side of Stoke Ridge, Luccombe parish, is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs centred on circa SS 8807 4299. The enclosure has been transcribed from aerial photographs during the Exmoor National Mapping Programme survey. The full extent of the enclosure, including the entrance on the northwest side, is not visible on the available aerial photographs, but the regular form of the enclosure is clear. [7-9] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [10]