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Summary

The site was first identified during fieldwork in 1992 when an abundance of iron slag was found in a ploughed field. Samian pottery and pieces of Roman tile were also found. A subsequent geophysical survey identified where the slag was most concentrated indicating a dump of material, furnaces or smithing areas. Trial trenching recovered vitrified and burnt iron working waste and tap slag together with sherds of Roman pottery suggesting that the site was worked during the first century AD.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: ST21SW/36

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• IRON WORKS (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD (Between))

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV122949.

Des=ramm exeter blackdown hills 1992 finds bh508.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV122951.

Des=slide 13/11/92 in smr.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV122952.

Des=colour print 13/11/92 film no bh5 frame no 21, 22 in smr.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV122953.

Des=b/w print 13/11/92 film no bh24 frame no 10, 11 in smr.

Untitled Source (Aerial Photograph). SDV122955.

Aph=slide/(21/2/1994)/in smr.

Untitled Source (Aerial Photograph). SDV122956.

Aph=dap/wc8-9/(21/2/1994).

Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit, 1992 - 1993, Blackdown Hills Survey Archive (Archive - Survey). SDV324187.

Vis=17/9/1992 (simpson and noble). A number of pieces of iron slag were collected from the gateway of this field which contained a mature maize crop.

Crew, P., 1993, Blackdown Hills, Devon. Preliminary Report on the Slags from Sweetlands, Livenhays, Moorlands, Hemyock and Woodbury Great Close (Report - Survey). SDV359508.

Sweetlands Farm. The slags at this site are widely spread by ploughing over an area of about 50 by 30 metres. Most of the spread material seems to be tap slag but in one area of the field, towards the north, just west of a break in the slope are a concentration of burnt clay fragments and the majority of non-tap slag fragments. This may indicate the site of the smelting furnaces or possible the smithing area. Pieces of charcoal and sherds of Romano British pottery were also found in this area. Fragments of burnt flint were also observed. These are a common feature on iron working sites in western Europe but their purpose is not yet understood, although they could have been used as a flux.
Sweetlands was clearly a smelting site of some scale, producing tap slags in some quantity. The presence of possible smithing hearth cakes indicates that at least the primary bloom smithing was carried out here. The tap slag and the scale of working is not inconsistent with a Roman date. Further fieldwalking and excavation to provide stratified charcoal samples for radiocarbon dating recommended. Descriptions of a selection of slag samples from the site given.

Reed, S., 1995, Blackdown Hills Ironworking Project, Archaeological Evaluation at Sweetlands Farm, Upottery, 78 (Report - Evaluation). SDV355148.

The site at Sweetland farm lies on a lower valley slope in the south-eastern half of an arable field that was formerly divided in two. Prior to excavation, a geophysical survey undertaken. The results of this suggest dumps of slag in situ and slighted heaps spread downslope. An evaluation excavation was undertaken in January and February 1994. Trench 1 on the west of the site located a flat bottomed pit, possibly a clay quarry for the furnaces, which contained iron working debris and 86 sherds of Roman pottery. Auguring in the area of the quarry pit indicates a minimum extent of 440m(square). Trench 2 contained trampled clay and charcoal and five stake or post holes. Roman pottery was found above these deposits. Trench 3 also contained burnt clay, slag, charcoal and stake holes. Trench 4 contained slag and clay spreads and a sherd of Samian pottery. Trench 5 contained part of a flat-bottomed ditch. The primary ditch fill contained charcoal and slag. Trench 6 contained a deep deposit of hard, compacted slag and charcoal, representing the undisturbed remains of a slag dump above which further charcoal and slay deposits suggest activity being carried out on the surface of the slag heap. Several sherds of Roman pottery and fragments of furnace lining were found. Trench 7 was archaeologically sterile.

Lancaster University Archaeological Unit, 1998, Iron and Steel Industries, Monument Protection Programme (MPP), Introduction to Site Assessments (Report - Assessment). SDV362922.

Iron smelting site identified from surface inspection following harvest. Subsequent geophysical survey revealed that significant remains were likley to have survived. These results were tested in 1994 with the excavation of seven evaluation trenches. The recovery of 86 sherds of Samian from one of the trenches confirmed the Roman date of the site. Although no furnaces were located substantial quantities of furnace lining, chacoal and slag, indicated that substantial archaeological deposits remain undisturbed across the site.

The site was obscured by a maize crop at the time of visit. However, archaeological investigation in recent years has confirmed that important evidence relating to Roman iron smelting technology has survived at the site.

Cox, M., 2009, How Important were the Blackdown Hills as a Centre for the Iron Industry before the Industrial Revolution, 14-15, Appendix 11 (Undergraduate Dissertation). SDV359500.

The site was first identified during fieldwork in 1992 when an abundance of iron slag was found in a ploughed field. Samian pottery and pieces of Roman tile were also found. A subsequent geophysical survey identified where the slag was most concentrated indicating a dump of material, furnaces or smithing areas. Trial trenching recovered vitrified and burnt iron working waste and tap slag together with sherds of Roman pottery. This provided the first definitive dating evidence for iron working in the Blackdown Hills, suggesting a Roman military date in the first century AD.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds

• FDV2533 - POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FDV7189 - SHERD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Events: none recorded

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