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| HER Number: | MDV132636 |
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| Name: | Probable cloth drying rack extending inside and outside of a Middle Bronze Age D-shaped enclosure at Station Hill, Chudleigh |
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Summary
A 47m line of 18 postholes extending inside and outside of a Middle Bronze Age enclosure. Radiocarbon dating of bone from one pit produced a late medieval to post-medieval date.
Location
| Grid Reference: | SX 861 788 |
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| Map Sheet: | SX87NE |
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| Admin Area | Devon |
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| Civil Parish | Chudleigh |
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| District | Teignbridge |
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| Ecclesiastical Parish | CHUDLEIGH |
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Protected Status: none recorded
Other References/Statuses: none recorded
Monument Type(s) and Dates
- POST ALIGNMENT (XV to Post Medieval - 1401 AD? (Between) to 1750 AD? (Between)) + Sci.Date
Full description
Rainbird, P., 2020, A Middle Bronze Age Enclosure, Late/Post-Roman Pit and Late Medieval/Post-Medieval Cloth Drying Rack at Station Hill, Chudleigh, 150, 176; Figs 2, 15 (Article in Serial). SDV364790.
A line of 18 postholes aligned approximately east-west and regularly spaced at between 2.5m to 3m intervals was exposed over a distance of 47m. The postholes were circular or sub-circular in plan, and measured between 0.35m and 0.73m across, with a mean average diameter of 0.54m. They were largely cut through the natural crumbly shillet and had steep sides and irregular stone bases up to 0.36m deep. Six of the postholes contained animal bone, but this was in generally poor condition, with only part of a cattle mandible and a sheep/goat tooth identifiable to species. The mandible (from posthole F423) had possible signs of butchery and provided a late medieval to early post-medieval radiocarbon date of 1457-1635 cal AD. One very small sherd of prehistoric pot was recovered from the upper fill of posthole F161 (MDV132635) and is regarded as residual.
Given their date and position of a hillside the line of postholes is interpreted as having been used to support a cloth drying rack. The importance of the woollen trade to the area from the middle ages through to the late 18th century was second only to agriculture.
Archaeological evidence for cloth drying racks is only rarely found, and only one other site in Devon is currently known on a hillside at Tiverton.
Ordnance Survey, 2022, Mastermap 2022 (Cartographic). SDV364674.
Sources / Further Reading
| SDV364674 | Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2022. Mastermap 2022. Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping. Digital. [Mapped features: #136532 ; #136533 ; #136534 ; #136535 ; #136536 ; #136537 ; #136538 ; #136539 ; #136540 ; #136541 ; #136542 ; #136543 ; #136544 ; #136545 ; #136546 ; #136547 ; #136548 ; #136549 ; #136550 ; #136551 ] |
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| SDV364790 | Article in Serial: Rainbird, P.. 2020. A Middle Bronze Age Enclosure, Late/Post-Roman Pit and Late Medieval/Post-Medieval Cloth Drying Rack at Station Hill, Chudleigh. Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society. 78. Paperback Volume. 150, 176; Figs 2, 15. |
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Associated Monuments
| MDV132635 | Parent of: Posthole forming part of an alignment extending inside and outside of a Middle Bronze Age D-shaped enclosure at Station Hill, Chudleigh (Monument) |
Associated Finds
- FDV7817 - ANIMAL REMAINS (Undated)
- FDV7816 - BUTCHERED ANIMAL REMAINS (XV to Post Medieval - 1401 AD to 1750 AD)
Associated Events: none recorded
| Date Last Edited: | Apr 4 2022 10:47AM |
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