Northern Devon in the Grey Archaeological Literature
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NORTHERN DEVON IN THE GREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL LITERATURE REPORTS COVERING NORTH DEVON DISTRICT 2018 Table 1 sets out the reports filed with ADS relating to 2018. The reports are then discussed in a little more detail, in alphabetical order of parish. A brief synthesis of the findings of 2018 completes the document. Table 1: Summary of reports for 2018 Parish Site Grid Report Type of Nature of Ref Producer Report* Development Atherington Bonds Farm 5906 SWARCH Evaluation Residential 2305 trenching Barnstaple 49 Boutport 5594 SWARCH Monitoring and Residential Street 3316 recording Barnstaple Museum 5587 SWARCH Monitoring and Extension to extension, 3297 recording museum The Square Berrynarbor East 5580 SWARCH Monitoring and Caravan Stowford 4288 recording pitches Barton Bishops St Mary’s 7577 SWARCH Monitoring and Laying of Nympton Churchyard 2373 recording pipes Bishops Land adj. 5669 SWARCH Evaluation Residential Tawton Gospel Hall 3004 (Ab) trenching development Combe Spurway 5905 SWARCH Monitoring and Residential Martin Gardens 4610 recording development East & West West 6560 Substrata Magnetometer Road junction Buckland Buckland 2959 Ltd survey improvement junction Filleigh Village Hall 6653 SWARCH HVIA Residential 2793 development Fremington Fremington 5148 Wessex Watching Construction Pill 3290 Archaeology brief of surface water outfall Fremington Mead Park, 5265 AC Trial trench Residential Bickington 3257 Archaeology evaluation development Fremington Taw View 5256 AC Trench Residential Phase 2, 3274 Archaeology evaluation development Bickington Ilfracombe 22 Beach 5345 SWARCH Emergency Removal of Road, Hele 4775 recording work retaining wall Ilfracombe Robin’s 5163 SWARCH Evaluation Residential Garage, 4758 trenching and development Northfield recording Road Ilfracombe Rugby Club 5303 SWARCH HIA Construction 4748 (Ab) of new clubhouse Landkey Birch Road 5997 SWARCH DBA and Residential 3140 Geophysical development survey Landkey Harford 6046 Substrata Magnetometer Road Cross 3150 Ltd survey improvement Landkey Vicarage & 5916 SWARCH DBA and Residential Manor Roads 3117 archaeological development evaluation Martinhoe Shippon and 6676 SWARCH HBR Conversion Birch 4870 (Ab) and Cottage restoration Newton Land N. of 5280 SWARCH Geophysical Residential Tracey Hunters Inn 2697 (Ab) survey, development (2) Archaeological evaluation Newton Thomas A 5296 SWARCH DBA, Residential Tracey Becket 2692 geophysical development Church survey and HIA Pilton West Roborough 5679 SWARCH Archaeological Residential House Hotel 3450 and heritage development site assessment Rose Ash West Catkill 7871 SWARCH Monitoring and Construction Farm 2024 recording of slurry lagoon South Molton Norrington 7145 SWARCH Archaeological Residential Yard 2566 investigation development Stoke Rivers Chapel House 6327 SWARCH DBA, HIA, Residential 3542 Geophysical development survey and trench evaluation Tawstock Eastacombe 5408 AC Heritage Conversion of Chapel 2973 Archaeology statement chapel to dwelling West Down Willingcott 4897 SWARCH DBA Tourism Valley 4290 development Holiday Village *HBR/S/A – historic building recording/survey/assessment, DBA – Desk-based assessment, HVIA – Historic visual impact assessment Twenty-eight reports were recorded in 2018, covering twenty-seven sites. Of these, seventeen were produced by SWARCH, three by AC Archaeology, two by Substrata Ltd and one by Wessex Archaeology. A further five reports produced by SWARCH were available as abstracts only on the ADS website (marked with Ab in the table above). Most were developer commissioned but three were commissioned by the public sector to shed more light on known historic landscapes and features in the context of proposed development. 1. Atherington: Bonds Farm This report is on evaluation trenching carried out in a field between Bonds farm and the parish church, both of which are listed buildings. Most of the site appeared to have been made-up ground. The only feature found was a post-mediaeval ditch and any finds were largely 19th century. 2. Barnstaple: 49 Boutport Street This site lies to the east of Boutport Street and abuts listed buildings. Two floors at the rear of the site were excavated to formation level for the new development. Earlier floors were uncovered, chiefly of concrete construction, although a cobbled floor was also uncovered. This was preserved in situ. Finds were mainly 19th century. 3. Barnstaple: Museum Extension, The Square This report sets out the results of monitoring and evaluation during demolition and groundworks associated with the extension of the Museum. Its location, adjacent to the Long Bridge, the River Taw and The Square make it of potential significance in the development of the town. A total of 48 archaeological features were identified, including a series of working and occupation floors, 41 brick and stone walls, with associated construction cuts, and a wall robber cut. A number of layers of demolition rubble and kiln wasters used as hardcore were identified. These were considered to represent five periods of activity: post- mediaeval use of the site, possibly as part of the foreshore, including lime kilns, 18th century buildings, with one wall fragment found, early nineteenth century buildings, late 19th century buildings, including the Museum Building and Bridge End House, and 20th century development, including the demolition of Bridge End House when the Long Bridge was widened in 1963. Earlier phases of development were not observed, either because the site was effectively foreshore and no structures existed or because earlier layers were not reached during the excavations. Finds were largely of the same period as the features and were more numerous in the fill deposits than elsewhere on site. 4. Berrynarbor: East Stowford Barton Monitoring and evaluation work was carried out during the construction of fourteen static caravan pitches. Eight features (seven ditches and one post-hole) were investigated. A single sherd of mediaeval pottery was recovered from the upper fill of a deep V-shaped ditch. This would suggest that the ditch formed part of a mediaeval strip field system, rather than anything earlier. The only other finds came from the topsoil and were post-mediaeval or modern. 5. Bishops Nympton: St Mary’s Churchyard Monitoring was undertaken while pipes were being laid along the tarmac path between the lychgate and the church. No features were observed, the pipe trench being too shallow to reach any that might underlie the graveyard. There were a few post- mediaeval finds, including fragments of 17th century North Devon gravel free wares and 18th century North Devon tiles. 6. Bishops Tawton: Land adjacent Gospel Hall The following is the abstract from the Report on the ADS site. Archaeological evaluation trenching was undertaken by South West Archaeology Ltd. (SWARCH) at the request of a Private Client prior to groundworks associated with the development of land near the Gospel Hall, Bishops Tawton, Devon. The evaluation was carried out by P. Webb on 19th and 20th November 2018. This work was undertaken in accordance with a Written Scheme of Investigation drawn up in consultation with the Devon County Historic Environment Team (DCHET). The site lies in an area of archaeological potential, situated within the historic core of the village; to the south-east of the site of the Bishop of Exeter's late medieval palace at Court Farm. The development plot is depicted on the Bishops Tawton tithe map as part of a large hay meadow; to the south-west of the former main thoroughfare through the village. The Gospel Hall was constructed in 1925. The site is located off the A377, c.135m south-east of the parish church and to the immediate west of the Gospel Hall, Bishops Tawton; and is situated on the west facing slopes of the Taw river valley at a height of between approximately 17.5m and 22.5m AOD. The underlying geology is the well-drained fine loamy and fine silty soils of the Denbigh 1 Association (SSEW 1983); overlying mudstone, and siltstone of the Crackington Formation with bordering superficial Taw River Terrace deposits of gravel, sand and silt (BGS 2018). The outcome of the evaluation is not included in the Abstract. 7. Combe Martin: Spurway Gardens The site is within the settlement in an area known for both its strip field system and for mining activity. A rectangular area within a modern housing estate was stripped to the depth of the natural deposits. No significant archaeological features were identified. The evidence indicates that modern soil layers overlie a possible post- mediaeval buried soil. Finds recovered from the subsoil indicate mediaeval and post- mediaeval activity, most likely associated with agricultural use of the site as part of a strip field system. 8. East and West Buckland: West Buckland junction A magnetometer survey was carried out in a field to the north-west of the junction, on the north side of the A361, where a road improvement is to be carried out. The differences in magnetic responses across the survey area were sufficient to be able to differentiate between anomalies representing possible buried archaeology and background magnetic responses. Fifteen magnetic anomaly groups were characterised as representing potential archaeological deposits. Of these, three groups were likely to represent field boundaries recorded on the 1840 Tithe Map but not on later historic Ordnance Survey maps. Three groups may depict linear archaeological deposits such as ditches. They were straight and on a different orientation to