More information : Evidence of peat cutting can be seen as large, irregularly shaped pits on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards, covering an area of over 5 hectares on Kittuck Hill centred on circa SS 81544370.
The pits are irregularly shaped but appear to be associated with drainage ditches of probable nineteenth century date, and it is probable that the peat cutters opportunistically exploited these linear earthworks following their abandonment, probably in the second half of the nineteenth century. The expansion of the relict drainage ditches resulted in the pattern of earthworks now visible. They are mostly rectilinear in plan and often display a stepped edge which has been interpreted as evidence of sustained and systematic peat cutting, perhaps by several generations of the same family in a preferred location, as part of their commoners' rights. The identifiable pits vary in size but range up to 80 metres in size.
Due to the difficult nature of the evidence, which can vary in appearance on aerial photographs from year to year, the transcription attempts only to convey the general area and character of the excavations and should be taken only as indicative of the extent of individual pits.
The heyday of peat cutting on Exmoor was in the first half of the nineteenth century, although cutting probably took place on a smaller scale from the medieval period well into the twentieth century. (1-3)
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