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Summary

The remains of ridges possibly made for fruit tree planting and improved orchard drainage, probably from the post-medieval period to the early 19th century, were visible as low parallel earthwork banks on aerial photographs of 1947 on the south-east-facing slopes south of Old Spurtham Farm, Luppitt parish.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ORCHARD? (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1890 AD (Between))

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 RS 4304-4305 11-APR-1947 (Aerial Photograph). SDV356127.

Slight parallel ridges or banks were visible as earthworks.

Next Perspectives, 2014, Aerial Photography for Great Britain, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1906 08-SEP-2014 (Aerial Photograph). SDV359479.

The field has been developed and the earthwork banks probably levelled.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2016-2018, The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV359463.

The remains of low, parallel earthwork banks were visible on aerial photographs of 1947 on the south-east-facing slopes south of Old Spurtham Farm, Luppitt parish. The banks were aligned roughly west-north-west to east-south-east and spaced up to approximately 6-7 metres apart and covered an area of circa 0.5 hectares.
The earthworks closely resemble the ridges made to improve soil depth and drainage on orchards in Devon. The field in which the ridges were located was not depicted as an orchard on the Ordnance Survey First Edition 25 inch map. This might support the interpretation that this plot had previously been used as an orchard but had passed out of use prior to the 1880-1890s.
The land to the south of Old Spurtham Farm has now been redeveloped and landscaped, and no trace of the ridges can be seen as earthworks on digital images derived from aerial photographs of 2014.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV356127	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1947. RAF/CPE/UK/1974. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/CPE/UK/1974 RS 4304-4305 11-APR-1947.
SDV359463	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2016-2018. The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme Project. Historic England Research Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:2
SDV359479	Aerial Photograph: Next Perspectives. 2014. Aerial Photography for Great Britain. Digital. Next Perspectives APGB Imagery ST1906 08-SEP-2014.

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7508 - The Blackdown Hills AONB and East Devon River Catchments National Mapping Programme (NMP) project (Ref: ACD1228)

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