| Summary: | Archaeological evaluation and recording were undertaken at Buckland Abbey on the site of a proposed 'Elizabethan Garden'. The site lies within the former precinct of the medieval abbey and at the time of the excavation was laid to lawn with paths and flower beds. Three evaluation trenches were excavated.
Trench 1 revealed the presence of a previously unknown medieval building to the north east of the former abbey church. The corner of a medieval building constructed of locally derived shale was found, with upper level of walls surviving at 0.65m below ground level. Three distinct phases were recorded. Primary wall forming east side of building of mud-bonded construction, 1.1m wide. At south west corner of wall was a recess, 0.25m x 0.25m, into which a less substantial wall (0.6m) was keyed, 1.8m long. Continued by another length of mud-bonded wall, 0.2m wide, abutted to it, forming south wall of building. On either side of walls, layer of demolition material 0.5m thick contained finds dating demolition to 16th century. On the inside of the building was an uneven cobbled surface. Possibly an agricultural building.
Running approximately north-south across the centre of Trench 2 was a burnt surface defined by two ditches. Associated with the surface were two hearths cut into the subsoil, one of which contained the possible remains of a hearthstone. In the north western corner of the trench were the remains of two floor surfaces. A pit to the south of these contained pottery of the 11th to 14th centuries. The ditches may have been the foundation trenches for a timber-framed building. This is interpreted as a workshop area associated with the abbey.
In Trench 3 the existing low bank encircling the monument was shown to represent a possible 18th century garden feature, probably a circular flower bed. It had been constructed over an earlier garden surface consisting of sand and grit which may have been a path. |
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