MEM22834 - Goscombe or Coscombe Linhay, Oare (Monument)

The linhay is visible on historic mapping and was recorded as a small ruinous building in 2021. A small pond with a dam and retaining wall is situated to the north. The linhay is likely to be part of the Glenthorne designed landscape.

Goscombe Linhay is depicted and labelled on the 1st and 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey maps. [1,2] The linhay is not visible on the later 2014 MasterMap. [3] The linhay is also not shown on the Oare Tithe Map and was presumably constructed after this was surveyed. [4] An archaeological survey was undertaken along part of a proposed route of the new England Coast Path through the Glenthorne Estate on Exmoor in March 2021. SS 7951 4919. The remains of a small building lie close to the proposed new route, by a footpath to Glenthorne Beach. The remains comprise two drystone walls on a level platform.The west wall is 3 metres long, 1.3 metres high and 0.6 metres thick; the southern wall is 4 metres long, 0.7 metres high and 0.6 metres thick. A path runs across the front of the building and this is marked by stone gateposts on the west and east ends.To the north of the building is a pond which has been drained and filled in, with the remains of a substantial dam and retaining wall at its northern end. Coscombe Linhay is one of five named linhays close to Glenthorne Home Farm shown on the 1st Edition map. Whitebloom Linhay (MSO12168) was considered as part of a survey of an earlier proposed ECP route. Both it and Coscombe Linhay are sited on the edge of combes in locations not ideally suited for a purely utilitarian agricultural function. All five were probably part of the Glenthorne designed landscape and formed focal points on walks or drives around it. [5] The pond appears to be visible on the 1st Edition map, and can be traced on the 2021 MasterMap data. [1,6]