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Summary

Barnstaple Civic Centre was built in the late 1960s on the site of an artificial lake that was created in a naturally marshy area in the later 19th century. The lake was presumably in-filled when the Lynton railway was built in 1898 and the site is shown as an area of mud on early 20th century mapping. By the 1930s the area had been planted with trees and immediately prior to the construction of the civic centre the site was in use as a car park.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• North Devon District Council Rescue Archaeology Unit Site Code: ND75

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CIVIC CENTRE (Built, Mid 20th Century to Late 20th Century - 1960 AD to 1970 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

'The Lake' marked, comprising a rounded triangular lake with an island in the middle.

Ordnance Survey, 1973, SS5433-5533 (Cartographic). SDV77308.

Civic Centre marked adjacent to the The Castle in the triangle of land between the confluence of the River Yeo with the River Taw.

Devon County Council, 1975, Barnstaple Town Trail, 18 (Article in Monograph). SDV352446.

North Devon District Council Rescue Archaeology Unit, 1991, North Devon Archaeological Site Code Index, Site Code ND75 (Report - non-specific). SDV63429.

Riverine deposits observed during extension works to the civic centre in 1986.

Chris Blandford Associates, 1997, Barnstaple Western Bypass and Urban Relief Road Stage 4. Environmental Assessment Phase A, 21 (Report - Assessment). SDV347381.

The area now occupied by the Civic Cente was open marsh and water in the 19th century. On the 1887 Ordnance Survey map the area is shown as a lake with an island in the centre, but this was presumably filled in when the Lynton railway was built in 1898. In 1903 the Ordnance Survey shows an area of mud, and by 1938, three years after the Lynton railway had closed, maps show that the area had been planted with trees. By 1965 air photographs show the area in use as a car park and by 1970 the Civic Centre had been built.

Southwest Archaeology, 2013, Greater Barnstaple Area Project Database, Mapping Area 66 (Un-published). SDV351581.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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