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Summary

A ditched bank of possible medieval to post-medieval date survives as a north by north-east to south by south-west aligned earthwork, under the tree cover of Boringdon Park Wood.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1020565: Post-medieval deer park, medieval fishpond, 18th century triumphal arch and a 19th century lead mine, ore works and smelt mill at Boringdon Park

Other References/Statuses

• Old SAM Ref: 33780

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• (Former Type) WOOD BANK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD (Between))
• PLANTATION BANK (Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1840 AD)

Full description

South West Heritage Trust, 1838-1848, Digitised Tithe Maps and Transcribed Apportionments (Cartographic). SDV359954.

The visible earthworks do not correspond with any boundary depicted on the Tithe Map for Plympton St Mary.

Royal Air Force, 1951, RAF/540/493, RAF/540/493 RP 3009-3010 12-MAY-1951 (Aerial Photograph). SDV363147.

A banks is visble as an earthwork under tree cover.

Environment Agency, 1998-2017, LiDAR DTM data (1m resolution) EA: South Devon Coast to Dartmoor, LIDAR SX5258-SX5358 Environment Agency DTM 01-JAN-1998 to 31-MAY-2017 (Cartographic). SDV361470.

A banks is visble as a fragmentary earthwork.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2003, Post-Medieval Deer Park, Medieval Fishpond, 18th century Triumphal Arch and a 19th Century Lead Mine, Ore Works and Smelt Mill at Boringdon Park (Schedule Document). SDV343933.

A medieval woodbank 300 metres long divides the northern part of Boringdon Park Wood and survives as an earth bank aligned north to south, measuring 6 metres wide and 1 metre high, with a ditch on its west side 3 metres wide and 0.5 metres deep.

English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009: South West, 110 (Report - non-specific). SDV342694.

Extensive significant problems. Principal vulnerability collapse.

Ordnance Survey, 2009, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV341569.

English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010: South West, 103 (Report - non-specific). SDV344777.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2019-2020, The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey. Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (AI&M, formerly NMP) (Interpretation). SDV362982.

A bank is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs of 1951 and visualisations derived from lidar data captured between 1998 and 2017 as a linear earthwork circa 4 to 6m wide and 290m long, under the tree cover of Boringdon Park Wood.
The visible earthwork does not correspond with any boundary depicted on the 19th century maps available to the survey, but does abut the line of two boundaries depicted on the Tithe Map for Plympton St Mary, to north and south, which lists the plot (2268), as Berringon Park Plantation.
It is probable that the plantation was established in the 18th or early 19th century.
It is possible that the bank is of medieval date, predating the establishment of the plantation, but the very regular form of the earthwork is more characteristic of later, post-medieval boundaries.
It seems more probable that the orchard was contemporary with establishment of the plantation and is therefore probably 18th or early 19th century in date.
The bank is cut in at least one place by a plantation track of possible modern date but the dense tree cover makes it difficult to assess the overall condition of the earthwork.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8098 - The South Devon Coast to Dartmoor Aerial Investigation and Mapping (formerly NMP) Survey, Area 2, Avon Valley to Plymouth (Ref: ACD2040)

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