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Summary

A spring and pool marked in prehistoric times by a large mound of fire-cracked pebbles.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SY08NW/18

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WELL (Unknown date) + Sci.Date

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV10633.

Jacob's well. A hole in the bog below the escarpment of black hill on woodbury common. Still a wishing well in 1938 (brown).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV116940.

Brown, t. /tda/91(1959)37/holy and notable wells of devon, part 3.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV116941.

Osa=sy08nw17.

Exeter Archaeology, 2003-2004, East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Archaeological Survey, Site No. 2638 (Archive - Survey). SDV351568.

Jacob's Well. Hole in the bog.
SMR.

Tilley, C., 2009, Jacob's Well, Black Hill. A Bronze Age Water Shrine on Woodbury Common, 23-37 (Article in Serial). SDV344776.

The article describes the results of the excavations that took place in 1938-9 and discusses the site in relation to other pebble cairns, mounds and sacred springs and wells in the East Devon pebblebed heathlands. Jacob's Well is the site of a spring, water pool and bog marked in prehistoric times by a large mound of fire-cracked pebbles. The site was excavated by G. Carter in 1938-9 and his cut through the mound is still visible today. The mound is oval, circa 23 metres east-west, 13 metres north-south and 1.8 metres high. Carter's excavations distinguished three main layers - a pebble floor overlying a raft of pebbles on the bog surface, a layer of peat and a thick layer of fire-cracked pebbles on top. Around the mound was a 2 metre wide pebble pavement. Carters trench extended north from the southern edge of the mound. Beyond the paved mound perimeter Carter discovered a geometric arrangement of pebbles and an area of unburnt clay on whch was a large and unusually shaped and flaked pebble which he interpreted as an 'idol' or magic stone. It may have been a hammer stone for flaking other pebbles and in such use would have produced distinctive orange sparks. The four corners of the clay area were marked by oak stakes. A metre to the north of the clay mound was a dividing wall or pebble cairn and 4.00 metres beyond this was the remains of a recumbant wooden post or pillar, a post hole and a nest of 'symbolic' blue stones. At the northern end of the trench was a cut water channel leading away from a well or basin. Carter considered that the mound was Iron Age in date but the oak stakes have given calibrated radiocarbon dates of between 1870 and 1440BC indicating that the site was in use during the Bronze Age.

Unknown, 2009, Pebbles are a Stone's Throw from Fire Ritual, Front page (Article in Serial). SDV351562.

The site is located within a bog and during his excavations Carter found oak stakes which have been radiocarbon dated to around 1800BC.

Tilley, C., 2017, Landscape in the Longue Durée, 190-214, Figs 6.1-614 (Monograph). SDV361032.

At the northern end of his trench into the burnt mound, Carter found a cut water channel leading away from a well or basin. The well was about 30 centimetres in diameter and 30 centimetres in depth. It had a birch bark surround and was cut into peat. From it a water channel or runnel, its centre marked by blue stones, ran away towards the north-east under the mound. There were no other finds of flint and no pottery in the excavation trench.

Ordnance Survey, 2019, MasterMap 2019 (Cartographic). SDV362729.

'Spring' is marked on the modern mapping (and has been marked here since the late 19th century historic maps) and the HER located both the well and burnt mound at this location (SY 02493 85466). Recent (2019) metric survey on the mound has amended it's location slightly further north to SY 02502 85510 and the well referred to by Tilley is thought to have been located adjacent to the mound (polygon for well updated to reflect this, although Riley was unable to locate site of well during survey,, Richards, A. F., 28/03/2019).

Riley, H., 2019, Metric survey of a burnt mound, Black Hill, Woodbury, East Devon, 6 (Report - Survey). SDV362929.

A spring near the burnt mound (MDV78064) was known as ‘Jacob’s Well’ by the early 20th century. Recent forestry operations have obscured the site of Jacob’s Well; the area is still very wet and poorly drained. Carter records the small bog beside the burnt mound as still being used as a wishing well by locals in 1938 at the time of his excavations. In an unpublished note he wrote that ‘people came to drop offerings in the then hole in the swamp about two or three feet from the aboriginal well’ (citing Tilley 2009, 33). Carter also recorded Jacob’s Well for a survey of holy and notable wells in Devon as: ‘A hole in the bog below the escarpment of Black Hill on Woodbury Common. Still a wishing well in 1938. A domestic water supply is taken from a nearby spring’(citing Brown 1959, 37).

Sources / Further Reading

SDV10633	Migrated Record:
SDV116940	Migrated Record:
SDV116941	Migrated Record:
SDV344776	Article in Serial: Tilley, C.. 2009. Jacob's Well, Black Hill. A Bronze Age Water Shrine on Woodbury Common. Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society. 67. Paperback Volume. 23-37.
SDV351562	Article in Serial: Unknown. 2009. Pebbles are a Stone's Throw from Fire Ritual. Western Morning News. Newspaper/Magazine Cutting + Digital. Front page.
SDV351568	Archive - Survey: Exeter Archaeology. 2003-2004. East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Archaeological Survey. East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Archaeological Survey. Digital + Mixed Archive Material. Site No. 2638.
SDV361032	Monograph: Tilley, C.. 2017. Landscape in the Longue Durée. Landscape in the Longue Durée. Digital. 190-214, Figs 6.1-614.
SDV362729	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2019. MasterMap 2019. Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping. Digital.
SDV362929	Report - Survey: Riley, H.. 2019. Metric survey of a burnt mound, Black Hill, Woodbury, East Devon. Digital. 6.
	Linked documents:1

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4775 - Carter's excavation at Jacob's Well, Woodbury Common
• EDV8086 - Excavation at Jacob's Well, Woodbury Common

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