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Summary

Two pits containing ironworking debris excavated to the south of Penn Cottage in Chillington in 1997

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX74SE/117

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• PIT (Unknown date)

Full description

Dyer, M. J. + Stead, P. M., 1997, Archaeological Recording on SWWSL Chillington Water Main (Prawle Peninsula Reinforcement), 3 (Report - Assessment). SDV338783.

Two pits observed during recording of pipeline trench. Pit A, the most southerly, was circa 0.68 meters wide at top, 0.44 meters at base, and was circa 0.44 meters deep. Edges clearly defined and dropped at an angel of 50 degrees, base was flat and even. Lower fill was a black burnt charcoal-rich deposit containing small to medium pieces of slag, and was 0.24 meters deep. Upper fill, 0.18 meters deep, consisted of reddish-brown clay mixed with charcoal inclusions and occasional fragments of yellow slate. The edges of Pit B were not so clearly defined, except where they cut into the yellow clay and slate subsoil. Here the edges dropped at an angle of 30 degrees to the base which was 0.22 meters wide and dished in profile. Pit B had the same lower fill as Pit A, which was 0.1 meters deep, and the same upper fill which was 0.08 meters deep. The upper fills of the 2 pits had merged and spread over the intervening space, so that the upper edges of Pit B and the northern edge of Pit A were not distinguishable. This may have been caused by plough action. The upper fills were overlain by ploughsoil 0.3 meters deep, which contained small pieces of slate and occasional charcoal inclusions. Immediately north of the pits, a scoop was identified cutting into the subsoil. Prevailing conditions made it difficult to determine the exact size and shape of the feature, but it was estimated to be approximately 4 meters long by 0.5 meters deep. It was also filled with a black burnt charcoal-rich deposit which contained a large quantity of slag pieces up to 0.13 meters in size, and also patches of red clay. This was overlain by the same ploughsoil layer. The slag proved to be dense and vesicular, containing stone fragments and impressions, and fragments of charcoal. The blackened fills contained a high proportion of magnetic hammerscale, which is indicative of smithing activity, and the presence of charcoal suggests that the slag derives from a furnace. The charcoal in the slag is probably fuel residue, and the use of charcoal rather than coal may point to an earlier rather than a later date. Certainly neither the mid 19th century Tithe Map nor later maps give any indication of a smithy at this location.

Substrata Ltd, 2004, Gradiometer Survey at Penn Cottage, Chillington (Report - Geophysical Survey). SDV339438.

Anomolies defined during the gradiometer survey in 2004 suggested a possible structure in the northwestern corner of the survey area with possible field divisions to the south.

Exeter Archaeology, 2004, Penn Cottage, Chillington, Archaeological Evaluation Stage 1 Summary Report (Report - Evaluation). SDV338781.

Two pits and a scoop containing slag and charcoal observed some 5 meters south of the southeast corner of Penn Cottage garden.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4300 - Penn Cottage, Chillington

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