MSO8632 - Purported medieval or post-medieval beacon and cairn on Withycombe Hill (Monument)

A beacon is marked in this location on historic mapping. The reported remains of a cairn have not been confirmed during field investigation and the beacon appears to be an artifical feature created by quarrying activity.

[ST 0021 4126] BEACON (NR). [1] The highest point of Withycombe Hill is called Fire Beacon, and no doubt has been used as such in former times. [2] No further information. [3] Withycombe 5A. At ST 0022 4127 Both R Rainbird Clarke and Grinsell concur that the 'Beacon' on Withycombe Hill is not a barrow but a natural eminence. Withycombe 5b. At ST 0022 4118 Possible remains of cairn, with large stone on outside found by R Rainbird Clarke in 1938. Indicated by Grinsell as a 'doubtful or rejected site'. [4] Quarrying just below the top of Withycombe Hill has tended to exaggerate the profile so that when viewed from the N.W. it looks like an artificial mound. The cairn could not be located. [5] The Ordnance Survey 1st edition 25 inch map depicts a subrectangular mound, named "Beacon" at ST 0021 4126. [6] This NGR lies at the edge of a disused stone quarry. There is no evidence for either an artificial fire beacon mound or a prehistoric cairn in this vicinity. [7] A small mound at ST 0022 4127 is visible on aerial photographs, but it is likely to be either an artificial feature created by quarrying or a natural outcrop. While this feature may have been used as a fire beacon in the past, there is no evidence that it was deliberately constructed as such. No trace of the alleged cairn could be seen. [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]