See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

System of enclosures, droveways and fields with evidence for occupation from the Late Iron Age into the early Roman period. However, finds of Bronze Age pottery also indicate much earlier activity on the site.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Two Iron Age/Roman enclosures north of Mount Folly Farm

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX64SE/57

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSURE (Middle Iron Age to III - 300 BC to 300 AD (Between))

Full description

Robinson, R., 1987 - 2000, Devon Post-Reconnaissance Fieldwork Project (Un-published). SDV342165.

Visited 25/3/1991. Both enclosures lie on moderate south slope of a ridge above the sea. Nothing visible. Other details: Photo Q 36.

Griffith, F. M., 1989, DAP/OA, DCC DAP OA2 12-JUL-1989 (Aerial Photograph). SDV338636.

Single ditched rectangular enclosure, with second irregular enclosure adjacent. Recorded as a cropmark. Map object partly based on this source. Frame numbers 1-3 cover this site.

Geonex UK, 1992, 158/92, DCC Geonex/158/92 085-086 15-OCT-1992 (Aerial Photograph). SDV349989.

Indistinct pale cropmarks are visible. Map object partly based on this source.

Horner, B., 1992, DAP/VL, DCC DAP VL22 07-JUL-1992 (Aerial Photograph). SDV337328.

Two rectilinear enclosures and associated linears are visible as dark cropmarks. Map object partly based on this source. Frame numbers 21-24 cover this site.

Griffith, F. M. + Wilkes, E. M., 2006, The Land Named from the Sea? Coastal Archaeology and Place-names of Bigbury Bay, Devon, 70 (Article in Serial). SDV339814.

Excavation of two enclosures near Mount Folly Farm demonstrated occupation between the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD. The ceramic assemblage included local fabrics of the late Iron Age and Romano-British periods as well as south coast and Continental material. A stone-revetted enclosure dating from the Roman period has been excavated behind the sand dunes at Bantham, at the mouth of the River Avon, opposite Mount Folly suggesting strong Roman trading links in southwest England.

Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC, 2007, Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs, Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX6544 22-MAY-2007 (Aerial Photograph). SDV349355.

The cropmarks are not visible, but a roughly square area in the centre of the southernmost enclsoure has been covered over and spoilheaps are visible adjacent to this.

Wilkes, E., 2008, Return to Mount Folly: Fieldwork in 2007 (Article in Serial). SDV358506.

Excavations in 2007 concentrated on a terrace within the enclosure. Features included pits, gullies, postholes and a possible dryer.
Features cut into the terrace base were carefully recorded and excavated, including pits, gullies and post holes as well as the detailed excavation of a possible dryer that is in a fragile state. Once again, the recovered pottery came from a variety of sources within the southern Britain and on the continent. The main body of material dates to the late Iron Age and Romano-British periods but, for the first time at Mount Folly, earlier pottery, possibly of Bronze Age date, was also recovered. If confirmed, that could suggest a much earlier use of the hillside and perhaps of the terrace itself.

Wilkes, E., 2012, Mount Folly Enclosures Project: Successful Investigation in 2011 and Further Plans for 2012, 8-9 (Article in Serial). SDV351767.

Six weeks of fieldwork were undertaken in July and August 2011. Work concentrated on an occupation terrace dating from the late Iron Age into the Romano British period. A series of pits, however, were revealed finds from which suggest an earlier, Bronze Age date.
Geophysical survey continued in fields to the east of the main site, the results of which suggested the presence of further ditched boundaries.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2013-2014, South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV351146.

The two enclosures are clearly visible as dark rectilinear cropmarks in July 1989 and 1992, and indistinctly visible as diffuse pale soilmarks in October 1992. They are not visible on earlier aerial photographs, and this may be a consequence of the low number of summer sorties available, or an indication of deeper cultivation methods from the 1980s. Narrow linear cropmarks west of the northernmost enclosure are visible on aerial photographs from summer 1992, probably formed over outer enclosure ditches. Wide diffuse linear soilmarks visible on aerial photographs taken in the autumn of the same year cover a large area and could indicate further enclosure boundaries of prehistoric date. The recent excavations of the southernmost enclosure demonstrate good survival of below-ground features, and the excavation site is visible as a covered square area roughly 24 by 27 metres and centered on SX6606444790, with spoilheaps to the south and north, on aerial photographs from 2007. Extensive below-ground remains are very likely to survive.

Wilkes, E., 2014, Mount Folly, Bigbury Bay: Ten Years On, 7-8 (Article in Serial). SDV356125.

The 2013 season continued the investigation of an occupation terrace cut into the hillside overlooking Bigbury Bay. This year confirmed a Bronze Age dimension to the site.
The majority of finds were small pot sherds which date to from mid/late Bronze Age to Early Romano-British.

Wilkes, E., 2017, Mount Folly Enclosures Project: Fieldwork in 2016, 3-4, 7 (Article in Serial). SDV363849.

Investigations continued at Mount Folly in July 2016 with the excavation of two trenches across the ditch of a third enclosure in the complex. This had been revealed by geophysical survey in 2007 but not previously excavated.
The excavations showed the ditch to have been recut on several occasions and that the entrance was more complex than suggested by the geophysical survey. Pottery from the ditch indicated that the enclosure was in use from the Late Iron Age into the early Romano British period and was thus contemporary with the previously two investigated enclosures. Other finds included part of a deliberately broken rotary quern stone.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV337328	Aerial Photograph: Horner, B.. 1992. DAP/VL. Devon Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). DCC DAP VL22 07-JUL-1992.
SDV338636	Aerial Photograph: Griffith, F. M.. 1989. DAP/OA. Devon Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). DCC DAP OA2 12-JUL-1989.
SDV339814	Article in Serial: Griffith, F. M. + Wilkes, E. M.. 2006. The Land Named from the Sea? Coastal Archaeology and Place-names of Bigbury Bay, Devon. Archaeological Journal. 163. A5 Paperback. 70.
SDV342165	Un-published: Robinson, R.. 1987 - 2000. Devon Post-Reconnaissance Fieldwork Project. Devon Post-Reconnaissance Fieldwork Project. A4 Unbound.
SDV349355	Aerial Photograph: Bluesky International Ltd/Getmapping PLC. 2007. Pan Government Agreement Aerial Photographs. Aerial Photography for Great Britain Aerial Photographs. Digital. Next Perspectives PGA Imagery SX6544 22-MAY-2007.
SDV349989	Aerial Photograph: Geonex UK. 1992. 158/92. Geonex Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). DCC Geonex/158/92 085-086 15-OCT-1992.
SDV351146	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2013-2014. South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Project. AC Archaeology Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV351767	Article in Serial: Wilkes, E.. 2012. Mount Folly Enclosures Project: Successful Investigation in 2011 and Further Plans for 2012. Devon Archaeological Society Newsletter. 111. A4 Stapled. 8-9.
SDV356125	Article in Serial: Wilkes, E.. 2014. Mount Folly, Bigbury Bay: Ten Years On. Devon Archaeological Society Newsletter. 117. A4 Stapled + Digital. 7-8.
SDV358506	Article in Serial: Wilkes, E.. 2008. Return to Mount Folly: Fieldwork in 2007. Devon Archaeological Society Newsletter. A4 Stapled.
SDV363849	Article in Serial: Wilkes, E.. 2017. Mount Folly Enclosures Project: Fieldwork in 2016. Devon Archaeological Society Newsletter. 126. A4 Stapled + Digital. 3-4, 7.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV7423 - SHERD (Early Bronze Age to Roman - 2200 BC to 409 AD)
• FDV7424 - ROTARY QUERN (Late Iron Age to Roman - 100 BC to 409 AD)

Associated Events

• EDV6127 - Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme (NMP) for South-West England - South Coast Devon (Ref: ACD618)

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.