More information : SS 85553470. Withypool 7a. Mound 23 paces in diameter visited by Charles Whybrow in July 1962. Probably a tree-clump enclosure, surmounted by an OS trig-point.
List as 'doubtful or rejected'. (1)
SS 855347. Typical barrow feature shown at this location on 3" drawing and first edition 1". On the 25" of 1889 a circular banked feature is depicted (see illust) similar to tree reing clumps elsewhere in the region (eg. SS 92 NE 3). (2)
An earthen ring with a triangulation pillar on its eastern side is depicted by the Ordnance survey in both 1889 (2c) and 1904 (3). By 1975 neither the ring nor the pillar are shown (4).
The earthwork is centred at SS 85553470 and consists of a circular enclosing bank with an external ditch. There are no obvious breaks in the bank. The circle measures 235.1m (N-S) by 24.6m with the external ditch averaging 1.3m wide. The bank is up to 0.3m high and averages between 1.4m and 1.7m wide, although it is very poorly preserved.
It appears more likely that the field remains represent a cairn rather than a tree-ring enclosure. The position on the western top of a spur dominating the area to the west is ideal for a cairn, whereas there is no other post-medieval landscaping on this side. Also, the ring appears to be unusually small. There is no stone within the earthwork, although this is explained by the regular improvement the field has received.
The site of the triangulation is not discernable. (3-5)
The circular earthwork is visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards, centred on circa SS 85533469. On photographs taken prior to 1964 the bank appears up to 4 metres wide forming a circular enclosure with an outer diameter of approximately 25 metres. The outer ditch is circa 2 metres wide. The earthworks appear clearly defined with little sign of the damage or erosion that might be expected of a prehistoric monument. As such, a post-medieval date seems more likely. Nonetheless, it does appear small for a tree ring and its function is uncertain; if it is a tree ring it may never have been planted. (6-8)
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