It is likely these slopes were first farmed during prehistoric times. They are strikingly similar in layout and appearance with remains on Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor. Also close by are the remains of later Bronze Age hut circles. Medieval ancient lanes or ‘hollow ways’ descend to Seacombe Sands, worn down over the centuries by carts carrying seaweed for use as fertiliser.
More difficult to detect are the surface pit remains of a metal mining enterprise which briefly ran during the 1860s. It is thought tramways carried the ore down to a jetty on Deckler’s Island to be loaded onto barges. Today this stretch of coast is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
