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MONUMENT NO. 1086690

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A ditch-defined D-shaped enclosure of probable late prehistoric date is visible on aerial photographs as an earthwork at Harwood Brakes. The enclosure measures roughly 50 metres by 31 metres internally and is defined by ditches 8 metres wide and 0.8 metres deep. There are no traces of internal occupation but it may be that any such features have been levelled.

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For details see county SMR. [Two SMR entries - possibly the same monument]. (1)
This enclosure was the subject of a large scale survey by SMR staff, and is described as a probable "prehistoric hillslope enclosure".

The site is generally as described and depicted in the SMR (under SMR No 34132). It is centred at SS 9282 3999, and occupies the end of a broad ridge called Harwood Brakes. It lies within an area of probable 19th century enclosure, occupying the corner of one of these fields. It is sub-oval in shape, measuring 50m by 31m (internally), and is defined primarily by ditches 8 m wide and 0.8 m deep. On the north-west there is an external counterscarp, whilst on the south-east there is an internal counterscarp, which can be traced along the south-west side before fading out. A single entrance is visible roughly midway along the south-eastern side, marked by a causeway 4 m wide across the ditch. The north-eastern arm of the enclosure has been obscured by a field boundary, although a pronounced drop on the eastern side of the boundary may perpetuate it.
There are no traces of internal occupation, although the south-western end appears to be slightly levelled, which may indicate a building platform here.
The SMR classification as prehistoric hillslope enclosure seems correct, although two unusual factors are worth noting: firstly, it is more common for these sites to have stronger ramparts, and this might indicate that the site has been levelled or robbed (perhaps as part of later agricultural improvement); secondly its topographic position on the end of a spur is uncommon.
Surveyed at 1:2500 scale, July 1997. (2)

The hillslope enclosure is visible, as described above, as an earthwork on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards and has been transcribed as part of the Exmoor National Mapping Programme survey. However, it has been mis-located and is actually sited at SS 9282 4099. On the basis of the aerial photographs available to the NMP survey, little evidence for the south-eastern internal counterscarp described above can be seen, although a possible external counterscarp may be visible. (3-4)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) General reference

Somerset County SMR

(2) Field Investigators Comments

R Wilson-North & H Riley 23 July 1997 RCHME Field Investigation

(3) Vertical aerial photograph reference number

NMR RAF CPE/UK/1980 (F20) 4177-8 11-APR-1947

(4) Oblique aerial photograph reference number

NMR SS 9240/3(18257/12) 11-FEB-1999

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MONUMENT NO. 1479610
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The remains of a possible hillslope enclosure of late prehistoric date can be seen on aerial photographs as an earthwork to the north-west of North Ha...

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