MMO3785 - Medieval strip field system around Whitefield Barton (Monument)

A system of medieval strip fields extends around Whitefield Barton. The fields are defined by curving parallel lynchets. These relict fields were probably part of an infield-outfield system where the outfield was usually an area of poorer grassland or moorland, and the infield was an area of intensly cultivated strip fields. The strip lynchets around Whitefield Barton are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. They extend over an area measuring up to 1140 metres east to west and 925 metres north to south and form part of an extensive system of lynchets in Challacombe parish (see MMO1215). The fields were mapped from aerial photographs and a plan is published in [2]. The system is centred at SS 6775 4204 and extends as far northwest as SS 6712 4239 and covers an area within the following grid references: SS 6712 4239, SS 6772 4242, SS 6821 4204, SS 6767 4151, SS 6749 4159, and SS 6755 4216. [1-3] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [4] Geophysical survey in 2024 better clarified the position and relationships between the individual curving parallel lynchets over a small area of the field system. [5]