MSO8587 - Higher Leigh, Winsford (Monument)

Derelict buildings and grass marks suggesting a large low bank. It recorded as "Higher Leigh" on the Ordnance Survey map. [1-3] Not mentioned in Aston's list of deserted settlements. [4] The farm is in existence as "Leigh" by 1784 [5]. By the middle of the 19th Century it has become "Higher Lea" Farm, and consists of a farmhouse and a number of outbuildings. A track leads from the farm up to the unenclosed land on Winsford Hill to the west [6]. By the end of the 19th Century two cottages and a barn are depicted at Higher Leigh, and the access to Winsford Hill has gone, suggesting that the site is no longer in use as a separate farm [7]. Current large scale maps show that the cottages are derelict and the barn is in use, probably by Leigh Farm (formerly Lower Leigh), to the east [8]. [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]