MSO7947 - Post-medieval field boundary on Porlock Allotment (Monument)

At SS 8411 4397 on the very steep east facing slopes of Weir Water is a field bank. It runs along the contour close to the crest of the natural slope, and turns downslope at either end. It therefore seems to have been created to enclose these precipitously steep slopes. It is probably post-medieval in date. Surveyed with GPS, August 1996. [1] The field boundary bank is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards, running for approximately 100 metres along the 400 metre ordnance datum contour, on a roughly north-west to south-east orientation. As described above, the boundary appears to turn downslope at either end, but on the aerial photographs available to the survey, these lateral arms appear to be largely eroded and defined by the resultant gulleys or channels. [2-4] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [5]