See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Former field boundaries of possible medieval date were visible on digital images derived from lidar data captured in 2016 as low curvilinear earthwork banks on the north-west facing slopes of the Otter Valley, north-west of Underdown Farm, Upottery.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FIELD BOUNDARY (Early Medieval to XIX - 1066 AD to 1880 AD (Between))

Full description

Devon County Council, 1838-1848, Tithe Mosaic, approximately 1838-1848 (Cartographic). SDV349431.

The visible earthworks do not closely correspond with depicted field boundaries.

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

The visible earthworks do not correspond with depicted field boundaries.

Turner, S.C., 2005 - 2006, Devon Historic Landscape Characterisation Mapping (Cartographic). SDV349122.

The visible earthworks fell within an area that was probably first enclosed with hedge-banks during the later middle ages. The curving form of the hedge-banks suggests that earlier it may have been farmed as open strip-fields.

Turner, S.C., 2005 - 2006, Devon Historic Landscape Characterisation Mapping (Cartographic). SDV349122.

The visible earthworks fell within an area that was probably first enclosed with hedge-banks during the later middle ages. The curving form of the hedge-banks suggests that earlier it may have been farmed as open strip-fields.

Bluesky International, 2016, LiDAR DTM data (0.5m resolution) Blackdown Hills and East Devon AONBs: 3 transects, LIDAR ST1905 Bluesky International DTM 04-MAY-2016 (Cartographic). SDV359714.

Linear and curvilinear earthwork banks were visible.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2016-2018, The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV359463.

Two curvilinear earthwork banks on average circa 4 metres wide, were visible as low curvilinear earthwork banks on the north-west facing slopes of the Otter Valley, north-west of Underdown Farm, Upottery.
The visible earthworks do not closely correspond to any boundaries depicted on either the Tithe Map for Upottery or the Ordnance Survey First Edition 25 inch map. However, they might be the remains of boundaries depicted in this general location, but on a slightly different alignments, on the earlier map; the variance could be an artefact of surveying errors or distortion of the map in the digitisation process.
The relict earthworks falls within a field pattern that has been characterised as being probably of late medieval origin. As such, the relict earthworks might be the remains of former field boundaries of possible late-medieval date that had been cleared in an episode of boundary reorganisation between circa 1840 and circa 1880.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV336179	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 1880-1899. First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map. First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map. Map (Digital).
SDV349122	Cartographic: Turner, S.C.. 2005 - 2006. Devon Historic Landscape Characterisation Mapping. Digital.
SDV349431	Cartographic: Devon County Council. 1838-1848. Tithe Mosaic, approximately 1838-1848. Digitised Tithe Map. Digital.
SDV359463	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2016-2018. The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project. Historic England Research Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:2
SDV359714	Cartographic: Bluesky International. 2016. LiDAR DTM data (0.5m resolution) Blackdown Hills and East Devon AONBs: 3 transects. Not applicable. Digital. LIDAR ST1905 Bluesky International DTM 04-MAY-2016. [Mapped feature: #75656 ]

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7508 - The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme (NMP) project (Ref: ACD1228)

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.