See important guidance on the use of this record.

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

Summary

A cropmark ring ditch was visible to the west of Woodville on 1996 aerial photographs, on north-west facing slopes overlooking the Culm valley. It might be the remains of prehistoric hut circle.

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Crop marks of a Prehistoric D shaped, single ditched enclosure, linears and ring ditches north west of Garlandhayes Farm

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: ST00SW/59
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• RING DITCH (Late Neolithic to Late Iron Age - 3000 BC to 42 AD (Between))
• ROUND HOUSE (DOMESTIC) (Early Iron Age to Roman - 700 BC to 409 AD (Between))

Full description

DPRFP, Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV262469.

Vis=27/1/1998 (robinson) site lies just above valley floor. No visible mound. Close to st00sw/26,27,57 (dprfp).

APH, Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV53458.

Dark annular mark diam c.10m. Recorded from the air as a cropmark by f. Griffith in 1996 (aph).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV53461.

Des=dprfp 1998.

Untitled Source (Aerial Photograph). SDV53462.

Aph=dap/st 3(10/7/1900).

Bunn, D., 09/2013, Proposed Solar Farm, Winham Farm, Cullompton (Report - Geophysical Survey). SDV352258.

A fluxgate gradiometer survey was undertaken on land at Winham Farm, Cullompton, Devon
(centred at ST 01642 03667). The site is proposed as a solar farm.

The survey has identified anomalies indicative of ditches and pits in both survey areas (Fields 1 & 2). These were detected in the mid and southern parts of the site, some on the alignment of pre-recorded cropmark ditches in Field 1. Indeed, the survey recorded magnetic traces of a cropmark ring ditch and at least one other suspected archaeological linear cropmark. Further, hitherto unrecorded, ditches were detected, including the boundaries of a possible rectilinear enclosure. These anomalies appear to pre-date the post-medieval pattern of field boundaries of the site and its area.

An anomaly group indicates the presence of a partially resolved ring ditch (1) that has previously been recorded as a crop mark.

Horner, B., 1996, DAP/ZT, Devon County Council DAP/ZT 13 16-JUL-1996 (Aerial Photograph). SDV122375.

A ring ditch circa 12 metres in diameter is visible.

Riley, R., 2014, Winham Farm, Cullompton, Devon: Archaeological Evaluation (Report - Evaluation). SDV357640.

An archaeological evaluation undertaken at Winham Farm found evidence for early prehistoric activity in the form of two ring ditches and a ditch. A co-axial field system and a possible drying oven were identified in the western part of the area and produced finds broadly dating to the late Roman period.

Trench 2
The natural substrate, was identified at a maximum depth of 0.62 metres in Trench 2. It was cut by two curving ditches, (both identified by the geophysical survey and as cropmarks), and two pits.

The two ditches corresponded to a semi-circular anomaly on the geophysical survey (Fig. 2) and a circular cropmark (Fig. 3) and appear to form either side of a ring ditch. One ditch was 1.9 metres wide and 0.6 metres deep, with an irregular, ‘U’-shaped profile and a flat base (Fig. 5, section CC). Sterile primary fill 204 was overlain by secondary fill 206 which comprised sandy silt and contained worked chert and flint, including flakes, blades and a burnt bladelet dating to the Mesolithic to Early Neolithic periods.The other ditch was 2.02 metres wide, 0.7 metres deep and had a ‘V’-shaped profile with moderately sloping sides and a concave base (Fig. 5, section CC). Primary fill 210 was overlain by stoney secondary fill 211 which appeared to represent slumping/collapse from an internal mound that has since been ploughed away. Secondary fill 211 contained a sherd of early prehistoric pottery, 12 chert flakes and 3 worked flint artefacts, including a retouched scraper and a flake with platform preparation, a technique employed during the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic periods. Upper sandy silt fill 212 was devoid of artefactual material.

The two pits were not detected by the geophysical survey and were not fully exposed in plan. One pit was 0.5 metres wide and 0.23 metres deep and had a vertical slope on the eastern side, a moderate slope of the western side and a flat base. A single sherd of early prehistoric pottery was recovered from a single fill. The other pit was 0.84 metres wide and 0.29 metres deep with a moderately sloping western side and a shallow eastern side (Fig. 5, section DD). It contained a single, sterile sandy silt fill. All features were sealed by subsoil, which was covered by topsoil.

Round barrows are known to have been present from the Early Neolithic (Woodward 2000, 36), therefore, together with the early prehistoric pottery recovered from pit fill 208 and ditch fill 211, an earlier prehistoric date seems probable and the identified features may represent the remains of ploughed-out barrows. Two artefact scatters dating to the early prehistoric period have previously been recorded within the vicinity of the site.

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

The cropmark of a ring ditch circa 12 metres in diameter was visible on north-west facing slopes overlooking the Culm valley to the west of Woodville on aerial photographs of 1996. Cropmark ring ditches can be evidence of barrows of Bronze Age date or hut circles of Iron Age or Roman date. The close association of extensive cropmark evidence for prehistoric settlement roughly 80 metres to the south of this ring ditch might support its identification as a hut circle, but further investigation is needed to clarify its interpretation.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV122375	Aerial Photograph: Horner, B.. 1996. DAP/ZT. Devon Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). Devon County Council DAP/ZT 13 16-JUL-1996.
SDV262469	Migrated Record: DPRFP.
SDV352258	Report - Geophysical Survey: Bunn, D.. 09/2013. Proposed Solar Farm, Winham Farm, Cullompton. Pre-Construct Geophysics Report. Digital + A4.
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
SDV357640	Report - Evaluation: Riley, R.. 2014. Winham Farm, Cullompton, Devon: Archaeological Evaluation. Cotswold Archaeology Report. 14199. Digital.
SDV53458	Migrated Record: APH.
SDV53461	Migrated Record:
SDV53462	Aerial Photograph:

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6530 - The East and Mid-Devon Rivers Catchment NMP project (Ref: ACD613)
• EDV6646 - Archaeological Evaluation at Winham Farm, Cullompton (Ref: 4871)
• EDV6241 - Geophyscal Survey, Proposed Solar Farm, Winham Farm, Cullompton

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