MSO8738 - Castle Farm, Hawkridge (Monument)

Hawkidge Tithe Map shows Castle Farm as a working farm. [1,2] Castle Farm, the ruins of a mid 18th Century three roomed longhouse and walled enclosure, with pens in the fields. Shown as a ruin on the 1840s Tithe Map for Hawkridge. The chimney remained until the 1950s. [1,3] SS 8845 2977. The remains of a building are located in the deciduous woodland of Hawkridge Ridge Wood. It is situated in a bend in the River Barle some 100 metres due east of Brewer's Castle (MSO8863), about 180 metres above Ordnance Datum. The remains consist of a rectangular stone building, about 18 metres east to west by 5.5 metres between the centres of a wall about 1.3 metres high and 0.8 metres wide overall, now covered in scrub and brambles. It is subdivided into three compartments and is not a true longhouse as such. No entrances are evident. It is fronted by an enclosed yard, about 16 metres east to west by 10 metres, on its south side and there is a smaller yard, 8 metres north to south by 6 metres, on the west. It is shown, unannotated, on the 1890 Ordnance Survey map [3] when the enclosed field to the east was pasture. It is now partly wooded. The name Castle Farm was not verified but the remains are compatible with a small farmstead of the mid 18th Century. No Survey Action. [1, 4-6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7]