MSO9254 - Medieval or post-medieval deserted settlement in Mansley Combe (Monument)

A deserted settlement consisting of at least six buildings arranged in a linear spread. The buildings are mostly single-celled and have single or opposed entrances, suggesting a medieval or early post-medieval date. Although previously thought to represent the possible site of a medieval settlement known as 'Mansley', documentary assessment suggests that it was called 'Acham'.

Strip lynchets seen from aerial photograph marks and plotted on SMR map. [1] A deserted farm site in an area of enclosed land named 'Ham' on the southern slopes of Dunkery, thought to equate with the unlocated site of Mansley in Aston's list. [2-4] The rhododendron and Scots pine in the valley were planted in the middle of the last century to provide cover for red deer. [5] Local memories suggest that the farm was occupied until the mid 19th Century. [6] The site lies in a sheltered, south-facing wooded hollow and consists of earthworks of three to four ruined buildings set around a small yard. Nearby is a further square building footing situated within a well-preserved contemporary field system. Elements of the fields survive across much of the present enclosed area, and include a series of small narrow plots defined by stone rubble, having a prehistoric appearance but overlying a probably post-medieval boundary lynchet. There is a suggestion of later emparkment around the farm site, with a 'deer fence' type boundary. [8] The site is centred at SS 9029 4059 and consists of at least six buildings arranged in a linear spread within a sheltered hollow on the south facing slopes of Mansley Combe. The buildings are all defined by rubbly banks usually 0.5 metres high and up to 2 metres wide (fully described below). They are mostly single celled and have single or opposed entrances. Their relatively simple plan and arrangement suggest a medieval or early post-medieval date, and there are too many structures to support the previous assertions that this is a single farmstead. An association between this site and the unlocated "Mansley" mentioned in Aston [4] is also by no means certain. BUILDING TABULATION Building 1 (SS 9029 4061) is 11.3 metres by 3 metres (internal). A two celled platform defined by stony banks and scarps up to 0.6 metres high. No entrance visible. Building 2 (SS 9028 4060) is 11 metres by 5.5 metres (internal). A rectangular building defined by a combination of rubbly banks, wall footings and scarps. The building has been cut through by a path which has caused some erosion but has also revealed the footing of the southeast wall which is 0.7 metres wide. The entrance is obscured by the path. Building 3 (SS 9028 4059) is 11.2 metres by 2.5 metres (internal). A rectangular building running across the slope defined by rubbly banks. An entrance 1.5 metres wide is visible on the south side. Building 4 (SS 9027 4057) is 10.9 metres by 3.6 metres (internal). It is a rectangular building running down the slope, defined by rubbly banks up to 0.8 metres high and 1.6 metres wide. The entrance is on the east with a large stone block on its north side. Building 5 (SS 9028 4055) is 7.4 metres by 4.1 metres (internal). It is a rectangular building sited across the slope, and defined by rubbly banks 1 metre wide and 0.7 metres high. Building 6 (SS 9031 4058) is 8 metres by 3.2 metres (internal) It is a probable building, defined by earthen scarps with some stone visible. The interior is very disturbed and uneven. There is a possible entrance on the west side. Buildings surveyed at 1:2500 scale with GPS in July 1997. The buildings lie within an extensive, presumably contemporary, field system (SS 94 SW 35) containing strip lynchets. [9,10] Surveyed at 1:500 scale in April 1998. [11-13] This area was surveyed as part of the Exmoor National Mapping Programme. Evidence for at least three of the structures listed above (Building 3, 4 and 5) was visible on specialist oblique aerial photographs, but little more could be confidently identified. Very little was apparent on the vertical coverage. [14,15] A digital reconstruction drawing was created in 2013 by Peter Lorimer. [16] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [17] The remains of a deserted settlement lie at the head of a narrow combe on the north side of Mansley Combe.The site is bounded by a steep scarp to the north and east and is cut by a massive erosion gully to the north and NW, with six buildings on the west side of the gully and at least one on the east side of the gully. Several small stony banks define small plots around the buildings.The site was planned by the RCHME in 1997, when six buildings were identified and given the numbers 1 to 6 [11, 12]. The remains of a seventh building lie close to Building 1 on the east side of an erosion gully and south of a relict field boundary.The layout of the buildings and their size suggests a small agricultural settlement of three or four farmhouses with barns or outbuildings and compares with Ley Hill, a deserted hamlet 5km north of Mansley Combe, which was in use in the 12th to 14th centuries AD [18].The settlement has been tentatively identified as the site of Mansley [4]. Documentary research carried out during this survey, however, strongly suggests that this site was known as Acham as early as the late 17th century. [19] Building 1 on the RCHME plan is located at the northern end of the settlement on the edge of the erosion gully. It is a rectangular building, with overall measurements of 10m NW/SE, 6m NE/SW and an internal division giving two rooms with internal dimensions of 5m by 2.7m (NW) and 4.2m by 3.2m (SE).The building is defined by stony banks, 1.7m wide and up to 0.9m high. Building 2 on the RCHME plan is located in the NW corner of the site. It is a rectangular building with overall measurements of 12.5m N/S by 4.6m E/W, defined by a stony scarp, 0.8m high, to the north and stony banks, 0.9m wide and 0.6m high, to the east and south; the western side is covered with bracken and brambles. Building 3 on the RCHME plan is a narrow rectangular structure between Buildings 2 and 4. It is 14m NE/SW by 5.5m NW/SE, defined by a stony scarp, 0.6m high, on the NW side and stony banks, 1.5m wide and up to 1m high, on the other three sides; a small gap on the south side of the structure may be the original entrance to the building. Building 4 on the RCHME plan is the largest of the structures with overall dimensions of 17m N/S by 6m E/W. It is defined by a platform cut into the hillside to a depth of 1.4m to the north and west, with tumbled stone walls, 2m wide and 1m high, to the east and south. A gap on the east side is probably the original entrance.A scarp divides the building into two, with a small room, 2.5m by 3m, at the northern end of the structure and a much larger room, 10m by 3m, to the south. Building 5 on the RCHME plan lies at the southern end of the settlement. It comprises a platform defined by stony scarps up to 1m high to the north and west and stony banks 2.7m wide and up to 0.9m high to the east and west.The building is rectangular and measures 10m E/W by 6.8m N/S. Building 6 on the RCHME plan lies on the eastern side of the settlement and is difficult to see due to the bracken and gorse growing on most of the structure.The building is rectangular with overall measurements of 11.5m N/S by 6m E/W, defined to the north and west by a stony bank, 1.7m wide, 0.9m high, and by a scarp up to 0.6m high to the south and east. Building 7 (SS 90310 40622) comprises tumbled stone walls, 1m wide and 1m high, with overall dimensions of 5m NW/SE and 4m NE/SW. The walls define the southern end of a rectangular building similar in form and size to the buildings of the nearby deserted settlement. This building is in a small triangular piece of ground, formed by the large erosion gully and relict field boundaries, which has been used for livestock feeding and for farm vehicle access.[20]