Cattle Shelter And Adjoining Wall 630 Metres West South-West Of The Great Sluice

This is a cattle shelter with adjoining walls, dating to circa 1815-20. It is situated 630 metres west south-west of The Great Sluice, on Braunton Marsh. The shelter is constructed of shale rubble, with repairs to the rear using concrete blocks, likely replacing a former cob upper section of the wall. It has a slate roof with half-hipped ends. The east-facing front is open, featuring circular stone rubble piers supporting the roof, one of which has been replaced with a concrete block. The shelter divides into two sections, serving two separate fields.

A fold yard is located to the front, enclosed by stone rubble walls, which are breached in places. A central dividing wall within the yard continues as a field boundary wall to the east. This cattle shelter, locally known as a linhay, is one of several on Braunton Marsh and was used for sheltering cattle and possibly storing fodder.

Braunton Marsh was reclaimed from tidal waters of the River Taw, initially in the Middle Ages, with more extensive drainage occurring between 1811 and 1815 following an Act of Parliament. This was the result of efforts by the Lords of the Manors of Braunton Gorges, Braunton Abbotts, Braunton Arundel, and Saunton, who held grazing rights on the marshes and sought to enclose them. The reclamation involved 949 acres, under the surveying of John Pascoe and the engineering of James Green. Horsey Island, to the south-east, was reclaimed between 1852 and 1857.

The shelter’s historical context forms part of a wider landscape, where the Great Field immediately north of the marsh represents one of only three surviving open field systems in England.