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Summary

Mound of fire-cracked pebbles beside a spring dating to the Bronze Age. Monument consists of an oval mound, measuring 11 metres north-west by south-east, 9.8 metres north-east by south-west and some 1 metres high. Part of the northern side of the mound has been cut into by forestry operations. A rectangular trench, 8 metres north-south, 3.8 metres east-west and up to 2 metres deep effectively bisects the mound. This is the remains of the large section cut through the mound by George Carter in 1938 and 1939. On the western edge of this is a small hollow, marking the site of the excavation carried out by Tilley in 2010. Mound surveyed in 2019.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BURNT MOUND (Bronze Age - 2200 BC (Between) to 701 BC (Between)) + Sci.Date

Full description

Tilley, C., 2009, Jacob's Well, Black Hill. A Bronze Age Water Shrine on Woodbury Common, 23-37 (Article in Serial). SDV344776.

Large mound of fire-cracked pebbles beside Jacob's Well. The mound is oval, circa 23 metres by 13 metres by 1.8 metres high. Excavations in 1938-39 found the mound to comprise a a thick layer of fire-cracked pebbles with a layer a peat beneath overlying a pebble floor on a raft of pebbles on the bog surface. Oak stakes from the corners of an associated area of unbaked clay gave combined calibrated radio carbon dates of 1870BC-1440BC. Such mounds appear to be generally associated with water and interpretations include the heating of stones to boil water, for cooking or for some craft process such as the production of textiles or to create large amounts of steam in the manner of North American sweat lodges for rituals of purification and cleansing. Compared with the site of the burnt mounds at Burlescombe.

Ordnance Survey, 2010, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV344030.

Tilley, C., 2017, Landscape in the Longue Durée, 190-214, Figs 6.1-614 (Monograph). SDV361032.

Jacob’s Well is situated at the foot of the western escarpment of the East Devon Pebblebed heathlands (SY 0250 8546). It is the site of a spring, a water pool and bog marked in prehistoric times by a large mound of fire cracked pebbles. The site was excavated by George Carter during 1938/ 9 (see details from 2009 article). The mound still exists today, cut through by Carter’s excavation trench that he did not back fill. It is situated in a mature pine plantation on flat land 50 metres to the east of the B3180 road below the summit of Black Hill. Carter interpreted the site as that of centuries of ceremonial burning and theorised that there was an ‘altar’ structure with the four oak stakes (remains of which he had recovered), supporting a roofed structure over it. He also found an unusually shaped and flaked pebble (15 centimetres long), the pebble had been struck to remove the flakes at the pointed end. All surfaces were fire- cracked, indicating that it was subjected to burning after being flaked. Carter believed this stone to be an 'idol' or magic stone.
Tilley's 2010 excavation aimed to measure and document the state of the mound and cut a small section into the body of the mound, to record further information about its structure and purpose and obtain further material for dating and environmental analysis. Carter’s trench was cleaned and then a 1.0 metre-square trench in the centre of the mound on the western side of Carter’s north– south central trench was excavated.
Radiocarbon dates were obtained: The top of the burnt mound deposits below Carter’s spoil is dated to 1300– 1400 cal. BC and the bottom 1400– 1500 cal. BC, so the burnt mound took approximately 100 years (or three to four generations) to accumulate. The dating of the oak stakes that Carter had found in the basal peaty layer under the mound provided older but different dates. If the middle date of the stakes, 1620 cal. BC, was the date for the structure Carter found in the basal peat layer there was a 100- year hiatus between the construction of the shrine in the bog and the accumulation of the rest of the mound of fire- cracked pebbles. So there may have been two main phases of human activity at Jacob’s Well: (1) an Early to Middle Bronze Age phase in which a shrine was built on the site; (2) a later Middle Bronze Age phase during which the pebbles were cracked and the burnt mound deposits accumulated.
Tilley parallels this site with the site of Burlescombe, near Tiverton, where two Middle Bronze Age burnt mounds with timber-lined troughs and associated pits have recently been excavated (citing Gent 2007). Jacob's Well is only of only two or possibly three or four burnt mounds recently recorded in Devon (citing Gent 2007; Hart et al. 2014: 10).

Riley, H., 2019, Metric survey of a burnt mound, Black Hill, Woodbury, East Devon, Figs 4-9 (Report - Survey). SDV362929.

The site comprises an oval mound, measuring 11 metres north-west by south-east, 9.8 metres north-east by south-west and some 1 metres high. Part of the northern side of the mound has been cut into by forestry operations. A rectangular trench, 8 metres north-south, 3.8 metres east-west and up to 2 metres deep effectively bisects the mound. This is the remains of the large section cut through the mound by George Carter in 1938 and 1939. On the western edge of this is a small hollow, marking the site of the excavation carried out in 2010 (citing Tilley 2017).
The western part of the part of the mound is flat-topped with a small linear hollow on its edge where the remains of fire-cracked pebbles can be seen. This may be the result of damage by forestry operations. The eastern side of the mound has a gently rounded profile and this may be the result of spoil from Carter’s 1938-9 excavations. The measured profile suggests a slight ditch or hollow on the east side of the mound. Carter’s section drawn in 1938-9 shows a distinct ditch to the east of the burnt mound, but ground conditions now make it impossible to discern such a feature (citing Tilley
2009, fig 3).
Riley includes brief discussion of the burnt mound on Black Hill as part of a small but growing body of evidence for such sites in the south west peninsula; sites in West Penwith (Cornwall), Burlescombe
and Clyst Honiton (Devon), Seatown (Dorset) and two sites on Exmoor have recently been investigated.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV344030	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2010. MasterMap. Ordnance Survey. Map (Digital).
SDV344776	Article in Serial: Tilley, C.. 2009. Jacob's Well, Black Hill. A Bronze Age Water Shrine on Woodbury Common. Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society. 67. Paperback Volume. 23-37.
SDV361032	Monograph: Tilley, C.. 2017. Landscape in the Longue Durée. Landscape in the Longue Durée. Digital. 190-214, Figs 6.1-614.
SDV362929	Report - Survey: Riley, H.. 2019. Metric survey of a burnt mound, Black Hill, Woodbury, East Devon. Digital. Figs 4-9. [Mapped feature: #104974 ]
	Linked documents:1

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4775 - Carter's excavation at Jacob's Well, Woodbury Common
• EDV8085 - Survey of burnt mound on Black Hill
• EDV8086 - Excavation at Jacob's Well, Woodbury Common

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