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Summary

A short crenelated trench of probable Second World War date was visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as an earthwork on the south-east facing slopes of Stoke Hill, in a location now just to the north of the junction of Pennsylvania Road and Stoke Valley Road. The earthwork appears to have been levelled.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• AIR RAID SHELTER? (World War II - 1939 AD to 1945 AD (Between))
• SLIT TRENCH (World War II - 1939 AD to 1945 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1946, RAF/106G/UK/1273, RAF/106G/UK/1273 V 5058 23-MAR-1946 (Aerial Photograph). SDV358976.

A slit trench was visible.

Next Perspectives, 2010, Aerial Photography for Great Britain, Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX9295 22-MAY-2010 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356259.

The slit trench was not visible as an earthwork.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2014-2015, East and Mid Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV356883.

A short crenelated slit trench was visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s as an earthwork on the south-east facing slopes of Stoke Hill, in a location now just to the north of the junction of Pennsylvania Road and Stoke Valley Road.
The slit trench was at least 12 metres long and approximately 1 metre wide, and might have been excavated as a small domestic surface air raid shelter during the Second World War date, perhaps associated with the house named Hilltop immediately to the north-west. The trench narrows and tails off to the east, which might support the interpretation that the trench was accessed from this direction.
The slit trench cannot be seen as an earthwork on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2010 and has probably been levelled. However, this plot of land has now been developed for housing and buried remains are likely to survive in what is now the garden of no. 1 California Close.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

The location of the slit trench was now at the western end of the garden of no. 1 California Close.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV356259	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2010. Aerial Photography for Great Britain. Aerial Photography for Great Britain Aerial Photographs. Digital. Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX9295 22-MAY-2010.
SDV356883	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2014-2015. East and Mid Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project. AC Archaeology Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV357601	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2015. MasterMap. Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping. Digital.
SDV358976	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946. RAF/106G/UK/1273. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/106G/UK/1273 V 5058 23-MAR-1946. [Mapped feature: #73135 ]

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6530 - The East and Mid-Devon Rivers Catchment NMP project (Ref: ACD613)

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