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Summary

Circular earthwork enclosure containing the remains of a rectangular stone building, believed to be a medieval hunting lodge.

Location

Protected Status

• Registered Park or Garden (II*) 1000453: DARTINGTON HALL
• SHINE: Medieval circular platform enclosure south east of Staverton Ford Island
• Scheduled Monument 1020870: Deer park north and north west of Dartington Hall

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX76SE/39
• Old SAM Ref: 33785

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSURE (XIV to XV - 1301 AD to 1500 AD (Between))

Full description

Unknown, Earthwork in Staverton Ford Plantation (Plan - measured). SDV348550.

Silvester, R. J., 1978, An Enclosure in Staverton Ford Plantation (Report - Survey). SDV343382.

Other details: Plan.

Silvester, R. J., 1980, An Enclosure in Staverton Ford Plantation, 119-121 (Article in Serial). SDV343381.

Small platform enclosure located in Staverton Ford Plantation, first recognised in 1978. The platform is of irregular oval shape with maximum internal diameters of 44 metres north-east to south-west and 31 metres north-west to south-east. The best preserved section of the defences on the north side shows a scarp bank slightly over 2 metres in height with an external ditch. On east and south sides bank has been cut back and faced with a stone wall, part of the field boundary. Three well defined shallow depressions are within the enclosure: a large central hollow 11 metres by 7 metres and two smaller ones. These probably contained structures. Other details: Figure 2.

Silvester, R. J. + Higham, R. A., 1980, Domestic Enclosures of Probable Medieval Date, 65 (Article in Serial). SDV55518.

Other details: Figure 4.

Turton, S. D., 1991, Archaeological Assessment of Totnes Northern Villages Sewerage Scheme, 2 (Report - Assessment). SDV177638.

Waterhouse, R., 2000, Notes on the development of Dartington Deer Park (Un-published). SDV352042.

Large circular embanked and ditched earthwork which contains a wall around a rectangular building. The building is thought to be a standing or lodge from which the hunt could be viewed. Such structures were more common in southern and eastern England and it is suggested that it was built by a well-connected landowner such as John Holand, Early of Huntingdon, between 1388 and 1400.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2002, Deer Park North and North-west of Dartington Hall (Schedule Document). SDV343369.

In Staverton Ford Plantation, there is a circular earthwork enclosure containing a medieval hunting lodge which measures 73 metres across its visible earthworks. The enclosure rises 1.7 metres above the surrounding land and contains an earthwork of a rectangular stone building, aligned east to west and measuring 13 metres wide and 20 metres long. Its walls are from 1 metre to 3 metres wide and survive up to 0.7 metres high. Short lengths of wall on its south side create small additional rooms against earthworks of an ovoid stone curtain wall which measures 29 metres from east to west and 41 metres from north to south. The wall is from 2 metres to 3.5 metres thick and rises between 0.6 metres and 1 metres from the interior, falling up to 1.5 metres outside. An entrance 3 metres wide in the east side has inturns from the curtain wall 2 metres long, while on the north side, an entrance 2 metres wide has traces of a stone abutment for a timber bridge across the outer ditch. Outside the curtain wall, a sloping berm between 4 metres and 6 metres wide, falls 0.4 metres to the lip of an outer ditch 3 metres wide and 1 metre deep. An upcast bank is 6 metres wide and from 0.2 metres to 0.5 metres high. In the post-medieval period, two stone faced woodbanks 2 mtres wide and 1 metre high were built up to the north and south sides of the enclosure and limestone facing built against its south-east side, forming two projecting horns, with woodland within.

Gray, A., 2009, Devon Rural Archive. A New Research Resource, 33 (Article in Serial). SDV347400.

Medieval park lodge constructed within Iron-Age settlement.

English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009: South West, 107 (Report - non-specific). SDV342694.

Generally satisfactory condition, but with significant localised problems.

Brown, S., 2018, Staverton Ford Plantation, Dartington: Devon: Earthwork survey (Report - Survey). SDV362822.

An archaeological survey was carried out on an earthwork site in Staverton Ford Plantation, Dartington. At present, prior to any excavation, the site is interpreted as of probable medieval date and its likely purpose is as a hunting lodge or warrener’s lodge, although earlier origins cannot be ruled out. Previous surveys and descriptions of the site carried out in 1980 and 2000 are reviewed. The work was carried out to better understand the monument in order to inform its future management.

The area immediately surrounding the site contains four other earthwork sites whose origin dates from prehistoric and Roman times. In North Wood, there are three Iron Age hilltop enclosures, two at least of which were re-used in the Romano-British period (Historic England List Entry Number 1020381). In Chacegrove Wood, there is another hilltop enclosure of prehistoric date (Historic England List Entry Number 1020553). In addition, prehistoric flint finds, dated provisionally to the Mesolithic Period, have been collected from fieldwalking in a nearby field (Gloyns 2015). Moreover, Staverton Ford, an ancient crossing of the River Dart, lies only 250m to the northwest. The ford is said to have lain on an important prehistoric trackway (Joce 1911 and 1931).

Dartington is first mentioned in a charter of 833 AD. The manor belonged to William of Falaise at the time of the Domesday survey of 1086. It then passed through a succession of owners and tenants until the early 20th century, when it was broken up and sold off. In 1925 the remaining 800 acres was bought by Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst. It is now managed by the Dartington Hall Trust.

The medieval deer park is first mentioned in 1325/6, when it is said to have enclosed 100 acres and was stocked with deer, but might have been in existence by 1293 when William Martin was granted free warren. Keepers of the park were appointed by the crown during periods in which the estate was held temporarily by the king, in 1387, 1509, 1514, and 1544. There is no deer park shown at Dartington on Saxton’s map of Devon in 1575, nor on Speed’s map of 1610, whereas the deer park at neighbouring Berry Pomeroy is shown on both. The park would seem to have deteriorated to a point where it was no longer regarded as functioning.

There are two main areas containing earthwork remains from the medieval deer park boundary. One area, to the west, encloses what is now North Wood. The other, to the east, encloses North Park, with a linear extension running south-westward from the north end of Warren Lane. The scheduling includes the earthwork site in Staverton Plantation, which is interpreted as remains from a hunting lodge.

Earthwork sites elsewhere include a probable medieval warrener’s lodge and garden set within prehistoric Dolebury Hillfort, Churchill, North Somerset; this comprises a circular stone-wall circa 73 metres in diameter surrounding a knoll on which stand remains from a well-built rectangular masonry structure measuring circa 20 metres x 10 metres (Bowden 2009, 10 and Fig. 12; Fig. 15). This site provides a reasonably close parallel for the Dartington earthwork in both form and size, including similar dimensions of the building.

The favoured interpretation amongst both past and present surveyors is a medieval site whose most likely purpose is a hunting lodge. The 2018 survey identifies only the central rectangular hollow and surrounding bank as the likely remains from a building, this being contained within a perimeter bank enclosing the platform at the top of the man-made mound. The other hollows may possibly represent buildings but there are reasons for believing otherwise

In order to make further progress on interpreting the site it will be necessary to carry out an archaeological evaluation (limited excavation/ trial trenching). This will require Scheduled Monument Consent from Historic England (who determine whether such an intervention is appropriate), plus further funding.

At present, the site is interpreted as of probable medieval date and its likely purpose is as a hunting lodge or warrener’s lodge, although earlier origins cannot be ruled out.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV177638	Report - Assessment: Turton, S. D.. 1991. Archaeological Assessment of Totnes Northern Villages Sewerage Scheme. Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit Report. 91.35. A4 Stapled + Digital. 2.
SDV342694	Report - non-specific: English Heritage. 2009. Heritage at Risk Register 2009: South West. English Heritage Report. A4 Bound +Digital. 107.
SDV343369	Schedule Document: Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 2002. Deer Park North and North-west of Dartington Hall. The Schedule of Monuments. A4 Stapled.
SDV343381	Article in Serial: Silvester, R. J.. 1980. An Enclosure in Staverton Ford Plantation. Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society. 38. Paperback Volume. 119-121.
SDV343382	Report - Survey: Silvester, R. J.. 1978. An Enclosure in Staverton Ford Plantation. Devon Committee for Rescue Archaeology Report. A4 Stapled.
SDV347400	Article in Serial: Gray, A.. 2009. Devon Rural Archive. A New Research Resource. The Devon Gardens Trust Journal. 2. A4 Stapled. 33.
SDV348550	Plan - measured: Unknown. Earthwork in Staverton Ford Plantation. Plan.
SDV352042	Un-published: Waterhouse, R.. 2000. Notes on the development of Dartington Deer Park. A4 Stapled + Digital.
SDV362822	Report - Survey: Brown, S.. 2018. Staverton Ford Plantation, Dartington: Devon: Earthwork survey. Stewart Brown Associates. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV55518	Article in Serial: Silvester, R. J. + Higham, R. A.. 1980. Domestic Enclosures of Probable Medieval Date. Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society. 38. Paperback Volume. 65.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8032 - Earthwork Survey: Staverton Ford Plantation, Dartington

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