Source/Archive record SEM8117 - HER Input Form: MMO459

The pear shaped enclosure on a hilltop east of Simonsbath village has previously been described as post medieval in date, based mainly on its unusual morphology (a shallow internal ditch and broad falt-topped remnant outer bank). However recent work on Exmoor's moorlands by the Exmoor Mires Project has developed our understanding of the work of John and Frederic Knight on Exmoor in the 1800s, and it now seems less likely that the enclosure can be ascribed to this period. It therefore now seems more probable that the enclosure is prehistoric in date and is better interpreted as one of the 'chain' of hillforts along the Barle valley. A detailed survey of the enclosure would help to determine this as well as to better understand its unusual form and morphology.