MSO8536 - Four Barrows, The Allotment (Monument)

A group of four stone and earth round barrows occurs near the southern perimeter of an area of moorland known as "The Allotment". As is usual with Exmoor barrows, none has a ditch. SS 8929 3332. Diameter 6.0 metres, height 0.6 metres. SS 8928 3331. Diameter 11.0 metres, height 0.6 metres with the south half partly stripped of stone. SS 8927 3330. Diameter 7.5 metres, height 0.5 metres. SS 8928 3324. Diameter 12.9 metres, height 0.5 metres, with a flattened top due to stone digging. Surveyed at 1:2500. [1] Four well preserved round barrows lie on the southeastern edge of Winsford Hill, on the edge of an enclosure known as the Allotment. The northernmost barrow (SS 8927 3330) is a circular, heather and gorse covered mound of earth and stone, 5 metres in diameter and 0.5 metres high. Adjacent to this (SS 8928 3331) is a second round barrow, comprising a circular, heather covered low mound of earth and stone, 11 metres in diameter and 0.7 metres high. The southern sector of the mound has suffered damage from stone robbing, probably for the nearby enclosure bank. A third barrow lies to the south of the two barrows described above (SS 8927 3330). This comprises a heather covered low mound, with some stone protruding from the top. It measures 6.5 metres in diameter and is 0.5 metres high. Approximately 50 to the south of the main group, and close to the enclosure bank, lies a fourth round barrow. This is a large, heather covered mound of earth and stone, with stone visible around most of its perimeter. A proportion of the stone is quartz. The mound is 12.5 metres in diameter and 0.6 metres high. The surface of the mound is disturbed, probably due to stone robbing for the enclosure bank. The barrows were investigated as part of the RCHME East Exmoor Project. [2] Scheduled on 6th October 2003. [3] The site was visited as part of the Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009. All of the barrows received survival scores of 3. The report stated that the features were cairns. [4] The site was surveyed in March 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. All but the northernmost barrows received survival scores of 3, with the northern barrow receiving a score of 7. This report also stated that the features are cairns. [5] 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]