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Summary

Seven phases of domestic occupation dating from the 13th century to the early 19th century were revealed during excavations on the east side of Church Lane. The buildings and other features appear to correspond with the two small tenements shown on John Norden's map of Crediton dated 1598. The area was abandoned by the time of the 1839 Tithe Map.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS80SW/224

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• TENEMENT (Built, XIII to XIV - 1201 AD to 1400 AD (Between))

Full description

NMR, SS80SW40 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV339028.

C13th ditch, late C15th tenement, Church Lane, Crediton.

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

A rectangular enclosure with no buildings is shown on the 19th century map.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

A small rectangular building is shown on the early 20th century map on the south side of the enclosure.

Youngs, S. M. + Clark, J. + Barry, T., 1986, Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1985, 110-91 (Article in Serial). SDV24583.

An area of 160 square meters of medieval tenement fronting onto East Street in Crediton, and flanked on the west by Church Lane was excavated in 1986. A 13th century east to west aligned ditch, and a late 15th century house with external garderobe were revealed.

WSP Environmental Ltd, 2005, Mill Street, Crediton: Archaeological Assessment, Appendix 1 (Report - Assessment). SDV338960.

Gent, T. H., 2007, Review of the Archaeological Evidence for the Location of the Saxon Minster at Crediton, 3-6 (Report - Assessment). SDV339904.

Excavation at the Boniface Centre in 1986 identified several phases of domestic occupation dating from the 13th century. The remains of wall footings, drains and surfaces were excavated. These buildings appear to correspond with buildings shown on the 1598 Norden survey. The earliest activity was represented by an east to west oriented boundary ditch on the north side of the Boniface Centre. Pottery from the fill indicated the ditch went out of use after 1500. A continuation of this ditch was exposed immediately to the east at 35 East Street in Crediton in 2005 and 2007. The boundary feature was redefined in the post-medieval period and is expected to extend to the east and west.
Map object based on this source.

Allan, J. + Blackmore, S. + Passmore, A., 2010, Archaeological investigations around Crediton Parish Church, 1984-2007, 137-140 (Article in Serial). SDV363629.

Excavations on the site of the new Boniface Centre revealed deposits up to 1.1 metres deep that had accumulated since the late medieval period. John Norden's map of 1598 showed that the site was occupied by two small tenements in the late 16th century. The site was abandoned by the time of the 1839 Tithe Map.
Seven main phases of occupation were distinguished dating from the 13th-14th century to the early 19th century. The earliest feature was a boundary ditch, dated by pottery from its primary fill to the late 13th or 14th century. A continuation of the ditch was found at 35 East Street in 2007 (see MDV97406). Subsequent features include fragments of walling dated from the 16th-17th century, trenches and postholes of a mid-late 17th century timber building, a late 17th - early 18th century century stone-lined pit and drain and the granite footings of an early 18th century building and the remains of a granite yard surface. These were overlain by a layer of demolition material. Two new buildings were laid out in the early-mid 18th century. The walls of the southern building were represented by robber trenches. It had a cobbled floor. The footings of three walls of the northern building survived, with evidence of doorways on the east and north sides and the jamb of a fireplace. Evidence for the final phase of occupation included the remains of a cobbled yard and a well dated to the later 18th-early 19th century.
See article for further detail.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

Map object based on this source.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV7356 - FLOOR TILE (XV to XVI - 1401 AD to 1600 AD)
• FDV7348 - SHERD (XVI - 1501 AD to 1600 AD)
• FDV7357 - PIPE (SMOKING) (XVII to XVIII - 1601 AD to 1800 AD)
• FDV7347 - SHERD (XVII to XVIII - 1601 AD to 1800 AD)
• FDV7363 - VESSEL (XVII - 1650 AD to 1675 AD)

Associated Events

• EDV4348 - Assessment of a Survey Searching for the Saxon Minster in Crediton
• EDV8264 - Excavation on site of new Boniface Centre, Crediton

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