MSO10929 - Warren Cottages, Warren Farm (Monument)

Marked "in ruins" on six inch Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division map. [1] Remains comprise a range of two buildings. Southwestern facing wall is unmortared with earthworks showing other walls and internal features. Northwestern end likely to be domestic, Southeastern end was a byre. Northwestern end has small raised platform with steps leading down to a garden enclosure. Walls up to 1.3 metres high. Door at southeastern end of range shows signs of having been blocked. Contour leat (MSO10940) cuts across enclosure walls and trackway. [2] Cottages probably built by John Knight soon after purchase of Exmoor forest. [3] Only one wall now standing. [5] The remains of Warren Cottages occupy a turf covered outcrop on the northern side of the Exe valley, and close to Warren Bridge. They consist of a four celled building with an annex on the southwestern side. Only the southwestern wall close to the eastern gable end now survives as standing masonry: coursed drystone walls 0.8 metres high and 0.5 metres wide. A gap of 0.7 metres in the southern wall close to the eastern end marks a former doorway. The positions of the north eastern wall and all the internal divisions are marked by scarps and robbing trenches. [7] In 1851 these cottages were recorded as being inhabited by a shepherd and his wife, an agricultural labourer and 3 lodgers, by the 1880s these were unoccupied. [8] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [9] The cottages are depicted and labelled on the 25 inch 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map. [10] The heritage asset was assessed for inclusion on the Exmoor Local Heritage List in February 2024. It was noted that it has high historical association having named inhabitants and occupations and association with the Knight Estate. It was deemed to have limited social communal value on a distinctive outcrop. It's collective value, with other buildings on the Knight Estate. It was decided to add the asset to the Local Heritage List. [11]