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Summary

Possible ring ditch or large round house identified during geophysical survey to the north of Pin Court Farm.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• RING DITCH (Unknown date)

Full description

Sheldon, L., 2010, Land Around Pinn Court Farm, Pinhoe, Devon. Archaeological Evaluation (Report - Evaluation). SDV347870.

Evaluation undertaken prior to a planning application submission for a proposed residential development of the site.

A ring-ditch, with a projected internal diameter of 12 metres was identified within Trench 22. No closely dateable material was recovered from the lower fills although worked flint flake was recovered from the latest of the fills. The presence of an internal bank, within which a further possible ring-ditch or drip gully had been cut suggests that this feature may represent an enclosed roundhouse. This interpretation is further supported by evidence from the geophysical survey which shows the feature's penannular nature, which suggests that a potential entrance exists at the south-east of the enclosure. However, the possibility that it represents a ring-ditch associated with a barrow should not be overlooked.

An environmental sample taken from the ditch identified charcoal, flint, burnt bone, coal, hammerscale, magnetic material and burnt stone.

Dean, R., 2010, Land at Pin Court Farm, Broad Clyst, Exeter, Devon: Results of an Archaeological Gradiometer Survey, 12-13 (Report - Geophysical Survey). SDV344434.

Sub-circular anomaly identified by geophysical survey at Pin Court Farm. The morphology and dimensions suggest it represents an archaeological structure, possibly a ring ditch or large round house. Other details: Figure 2, site 17; figure 9.

Wells, T. + Newton, L., 2020, Bronze Age Monuments and Iron Age Settlement at Pinn Court Farm, Exeter, 78; Figs 3, 4 (Article in Serial). SDV364781.

The south-eastern part of Area 2 contained a pair of concentric ring-ditches (2249). The external diameter of the outer ditch measured 16.4m from east to west, and 15.75m north to south. It was up to 2m wide, although was more typically between 1.65m and 1.75m, with a maximum depth of 0.85m. The ditch had steeply sloping sides and a concave base. Finds from the ditch included 14 pieces of worked flint, a single sherd of Middle Bronze Age pot, three small undiagnostic prehistoric sherds and a single intrusive piece of medieval pot. The inner of the concentric ditches was less substantial, measuring up to 0.85m in width and 0.15 to 0.2m deep, and had moderately sloping sides and a flattish base. It had an external diameter of 9.5m east to west and 9m north to south. No datable material was recovered from this ditch. Both ditches appeared to have silted up fairly rapidly, possibly due to the friable surrounding geology, rather than being purposefully backfilled.
There were no potentially associated features within either the interior of the concentric ring ditches or their immediate vicinity. Remnants of a possible bank, situated between the inner and outer ditches, were reorded in section in an evaluation trench excavated in 2010. This appeared to be truncated by the inner ditch and was either cut by the outer ditch or overlain by its upper fills. No evidence was found for the survival of banks or an internal mound, nor did the fill sequences of the ditches provide any indication of the former presence of any associated earthworks.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4608 - Archaeological Gradiometer Survey at Pin Court Farm, Broad Clyst, Exeter

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