MEM22552 - Prehistoric burial mound on Deer Park (Monument)

The Historic Environment Officer for the Exmoor Mires Project undertook a non-intrustive walkover survey of the proposed mire restoration area on Deer Park, which included this site. Noted was a small circular mound on the southwest edge of the mire which has developed around a the head of a tributary to Kinsford Water. The mound measures approximately 7 metres by 6.6 metres, is a maximum of 0.75 metres high and appears to be composed primarily of earth and turf. A small scarp 5.5 metres long and 0.5 metres high lies on the southwest edge of the mound. The feature could be associated with post-medieval activity in the area such as peat cutting or mineral prospecting, but is most likely a prehistoric burial mound given its location near a spring head and its uniformity. [1] A large scale metric survey of an area of earthworks on Wintershead was undertaken by Hazel Riley in 2012 as part of the Exmoor Mires Project. A small circular mound was surveyed, which lies on the southwest edge of a mire which has developed around a tributary stream of Kinsford Water. It measures 7 metres north-south, 6.6 metres east-west and is a maximum of 0.75 metres high. There is no sign of a ditch and the mound is composed primarily of earth and turf. A small scarp, 5.5 metres long and 0.5 metres high lies on the southwest edge of the mound. The mound could be associated with post-medieval activity in the area, such as peat extraction or mineral prospection, but its uniformity, size and location by the spring head suggest that it is most likely to be a prehistoric burial mound. [2]