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Summary

Platforms with bank and ditch defined enclosures of varying sizes are situated to the immediate south of Bursdon. These features are visible as earthworks on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013 and were surveyed by the Community Landscapes Project between 2001 and 2005. They are interpreted as boundaries and building platforms of a shrunken settlement of medieval to post-medieval origin.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FIELD BOUNDARY (Early Medieval to XIX - 1066 AD to 1840 AD (Between))
• PLATFORM (Early Medieval to XIX - 1066 AD to 1840 AD (Between))
• SHRUNKEN VILLAGE (Early Medieval to XIX - 1066 AD to 1840 AD (Between))

Full description

Devon County Council, 1838-1848, Tithe Mosaic, approximately 1838-1848 (Cartographic). SDV349431.

The earthworks do not correspond with any depicted features and the field is called Lower Meadow.

Royal Air Force, 1946 - 1949, Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV342938.

Some of the earthworks are visible as cropmarks.

Community Landscapes Project, 2001 - 2005, Bursdon and Deptford, Hartland (Website). SDV341954.

Survey by Community Landscapes Project showed the field had once been the site of a group of buildings, perhaps farm house and out buildings, and small enclosures.

NERC, 2013, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) Tellus: Tamar Aerial Survey project area, LIDAR Tellus LAST RETURN 01-JUL-2013 to 31-AUG-2013 (Cartographic). SDV363955.

Earthwork banks, ditches and platforms are visible.

Google, 2019, Google Earth Pro, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 23-MAR-2017 ACCESSED 20-JAN-2021 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363088.

Some of the earthworks are visible as subtle cropmarks.

Hegarty, C., Houghton, E., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2020-2021, Tamar/Lidar; A Single Source Approach to Landscape Survey and Socially Distanced Community Archaeology Area 2 (Culture Recovery Fund project) (Interpretation). SDV364011.

A series of earthwork platforms, banks and ditches situated in a field opposite East Bursdon Farm are visible on visualisations derived from lidar data captured in 2013 and have been transcribed as part of the 2020-2021 Tamar/Lidar Project.
The earthworks do not correspond with any features depicted on historic maps. An east-west orientated bank aligns with an extant boundary of a small plot to the immediate west. Some of the earthworks are visible as subtle cropmarks on aerial imagery from the 1940s and modern imagery on Google Earth notably from 2017. The historic landscape is characterised as medieval enclosures based on strip fields. The width and shape of the earthwork defined fields are roughly consistent with those depicted on historic 19th century maps north of the village.
The platforms, banks and ditches are interpreted as building platforms and field boundaries representing the remains of a shrunken settlement at Bursdon of medieval to post-medieval origin, that passed out of use by circa 1840.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4448 - Field Survey at Bursdon and Deptford
• EDV8356 - Tamar/Lidar; A Single Source Approach to Landscape Survey and Socially Distanced Community Archaeology Area 2 (Culture Recovery Fund) (Ref: ACD2424)

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