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Summary

Evidence of a former orchard of probable post-medieval to 19th century origin was visible as an area of low and narrow earthwork banks, to the south-west of Cowley, north of Exeter, on aerial photographs of the 1940s. The banks were probably made to improve drainage of surface water. They appear to have been levelled on more recent aerial photography.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ORCHARD (Post Medieval to XX - 1540 AD to 1946 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK/1273, RAF/106G/UK/1273 V 5051-5052 23-MAR-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV358976.

Linear earthwork banks were visible.

Environment Agency, 1998-2014, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution), LIDAR SX9095 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 30-SEP-2014 (Cartographic). SDV359177.

Very slight and incomplete banks were visible as low earthworks.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2014-2015, East and Mid Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV356883.

Evidence of a former orchard of probable post-medieval to 19th century origin was visible as an area of low and narrow earthwork banks to the south-west of Cowley, north of Exeter, on aerial photographs of the 1940s.
The banks were probably made to improve drainage, removing excess surface water into a stream flows through the centre of the orchard.
The visible earthwork banks fall within a plot depicted as an orchard on the Ordnance Survey First Edition 25 inch maps and the orchards therefore probably predated the mid to late 19th century.
Very little tree cover remained over the banks on aerial photographs of 1946, leaving the underlying banks exposed. The orchard had therefore probably been cleared of tree planting over the first half of the 20th century.
A pond has now been cut through the orchard banks and only very slight traces of the banks survive to be visible as earthworks on digital images derived from lidar data under dense vegetation cover; the majority of the banks appear to have been levelled.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV356883	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2014-2015. East and Mid Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project. AC Archaeology Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV358976	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/106G/UK/1273. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/106G/UK/1273 V 5051-5052 23-MAR-1946. [Mapped feature: #73144 ]
SDV359177	Cartographic: Environment Agency. 1998-2014. LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution). Environment Agency LiDAR data. Digital. LIDAR SX9095 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 30-SEP-2014.

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6530 - The East and Mid-Devon Rivers Catchment NMP project (Ref: ACD613)

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