Monument Number 188608 |
Hob Uid: 188608 | |
Location : Somerset Somerset West and Taunton Withycombe
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Grid Ref : ST0023241262 |
Summary : The 1st edition Ordnance Survey map depicts a rectangular mound on the summit of Withycombe Hill, annotated "beacon," while a nearby possible cairn was identified in 1938. The cairn could not be located by field survey in 1965, while the beacon appears to be an artifical feature created by quarrying activity just below the summit of Withycombe Hill. |
More information : [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 is a natural mound. Withycombe 5b. At ST 0022 4118 are the possible remains of a cairn with a large stone on the outside. [Grinsell considers neither of these to be barrows.] (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)
ST 00224127. Withycombe 5a. Both R Rainbird Clarke and Grinsell concur that the 'Beacon' on Withycombe Hill is not a barrow but a natural eminence.
ST 00224118 approx. Withycombe 5b. 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'. (6)
The Ordnance Survey 1st edition 25" map depicts a sub-rectangular mound, named "Beacon" at ST 0021 4126 (7). 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 (8).
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 (9). |