More information : SS 594 470. Enclosure award (1864) for Knap Down in Devon Record Office (Above Grid Ref conjectural).
The area of Knap Down, enclosed by a yellow band on the accompanying map (3), is shown as open common land on the 1843 Tithe (4). Most of this area ie, that enclosed by a green band on map (3), was enclosed by the Combmartin (sic) Inclosure Award of 1871 (5) and is shown on the Combmartin Inclosure Map (6).
According to Beaumont (f) the Combmartin Inclosure Award was one of the last in Devon.
To the north of Knap Down Lane on a steep north facing slope is one large area of scrub and bracken apparently uncultivated however, some attempt may have been made at the time of the inclosure to subdivide this area, as evidenced by the slight remains of two fragmentary banks (See SS 54 NE 29). The area to the south of Knap Down Lane has been subdivided into some twenty, mainly strip fields. (1)
Several post medieval field boundaries are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs of the Knap Down area, Combe Martin. The visible banks are centred at SS 5921 4699 and measure approximately 135 metres long, running north-south. They appear to be part of the enclosed land described by the authority above, laid out in 1871, but by 1955 have been removed to create larger fields. A less well preserved bank is also visible in an area of scrub and bracken to the north of Knap Down Lane. The second of the fragmentary banks mentioned above is not visible on aerial photographs. (9). |