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Summary

Earthworks relating to former field boundaries, Lappathorn Copse

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• EARTHWORK (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

Rainbird, P. + Newman, P., 06/2014, B3193 Chudleigh Road Re-alignment, Kingsteignton, Teignmouth, Devon (Report - Evaluation). SDV356991.

An earthwork survey undertaken at Lappathorn Copse in advance of the B3193 Chudleigh Road realignment. Small scale extraction of minerals identified. No finds were recovered.
The Lappathorn Copse section was 243 metres long by 14 metres, with a drop in height of 3.5 metres north to south. Due to extremely poor ground conditions, the pegged area of the new road had been disturbed by forestry vehicles prior to the survey taking place. Only three earthworks were observed, all hedgebanks. At the northern end of the wood, a hedgebank (J) marked on the 1889 OS demarcating the northern edge of the wood, crossed the line of the new route at an oblique angle. Only a small section of the bank survived between the pegs which measured 2 metres wide and 0.4 metres high. A 2 metres wide ditch on its south side was heavily silted. The southern boundary of the wood was also marked by a hedgebank (K) crossing the new road at right angles. The bank was 3.5 metres wide and 0.5 metres high with a clear ditch on the south side of 0.9 metres deep. Just to the north of this hedge were the remains of another linear boundary (L) which cut across the route at an acute angle and may be traced south back to bank K. This bank was more eroded and spread than others in these woods, measuring 3.2 metres wide by only 0.35 metres high, and was abandoned sometime before 1889, possibly when the enclosure layouts changed in this area at the commencement of industrial scale clay working in the 18th century.
The most intriguing feature among those recorded is the triangular earthwork ditch (F, G and H) and its association with the possible pond to the south. Its significance must have been clear to the 19th-century OS surveyors who recorded it in outline but its purpose, and therefore its archaeological significance cannot be determined from the modern earthwork survey alone. Its date can also not be established from the appearance of the earthworks. Small earthen hedgebanks with ditches of the type traversing the route are common in Devon. Many thousands of kilometres survive, usually still in use and dating mostly from the postmedieval period. The fact that three of these examples (C, J and L) within these woods were abandoned can probably be attributed to the changes in this landscape as areas became converted to woodland. The presence of surface mineral extraction is unsurprising in the Bovey Basin. The claggy soils were used as a component of cob walling and the clays could be used in ceramics and brick making. Alluvial tin, sand and clay have also been historically won from the Bovey Basin. Earthwork (B) may represent a former ‘square pit’, a type of shaft used to extract ball clay from underground deposits. The form of the earthworks do not suggest any specific period for the activity, and square pits have a long lifespan in the area, and continued in use well into the second half of the 20th century (The Ball Clay Heritage Society 2003).
The earthwork survey and to a lesser extent the watching brief provided further detail to earthworks in the copse areas that had previously been recognised. Historic mapping shows that the wooded areas are plantations and the remains of extraction pits further support the conclusion that this had been a mostly open landscape in post-medieval times. The majority of the earthworks relate to field boundaries which historic OS mapping shows as continuing beyond the wooded areas.

Ordnance Survey, 2014, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV355681.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6542 - Earthwork Survey, B3193 Chudleigh Road Re-alignment, Kingsteignton, Teignmouth, Devon (Ref: ACD511/2/0)
• EDV6545 - Watching Brief, B3193 Chudleigh Road Re-alignment, Kingsteignton, Teignmouth, Devon (Ref: ACD511/2/0)

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