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Summary

Iron Age enclosure identified by geophysical survey and revealed by excavation, to the east of Abbey buildings. Earthwork ditches of the enclosure were identified here during the Tamar Valley NMP project.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1018366: Buckland Abbey
• SHINE: Iron Age circular enclosure south east of Place Barton House

Other References/Statuses

• Old SAM Ref: 24846
• Tide Project: 10/07/2020

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ENCLOSURE (Iron Age - 700 BC (Between) to 42 AD (Between))

Full description

Gaskell-Brown, C., 1995, Buckland Abbey, Devon:Surveys and Excavations, 1983-1995, 62 (Article in Serial). SDV242033.

A large circular feature was identified by resistivity survey in the southern half of the field to the east of the Abbey buildings and adjacent to the present car park. It emerged as a much eroded banked enclosure circa 28 metres in diameter defined by double banks and ditches. The banks were each 3 metres wide, separated by a shallow ditch 3 metres wide and 0.4 metres deep. The outer ditch was V-sectioned, 1 metre wide and 1 metre deep. The banks had an inner core of clay covered with small stone rubble. The enclosed area contained ill defined areas of tumbled stone and near the centre an oval pit 1.75 metres in diameter and 0.75 metres deep contained a cluster of stones in a clay loam fill, and a single sherd of Iron Age pottery. Although mixed with a remarkably wide range of pottery dating from the 12th to the 19th centuries, a significant quantity of Iron Age finds came from this area. These included loom weights and very small sherds of back-burnished, Glastonbury, gabbroic and local wares. Most of the sherds were in the topsoil, but a single sherd from the central pit and 27 sherds from the fill of the outer ditch provide strong evidence that the banked enclosure was an Iron Age farmstead. Other details: Figure 18. Map object partly based on this Source.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 1998, Buckland Abbey (Schedule Document). SDV344044.

To the east of the abbey, a field contains earthworks in the form of terraced areas and a linear bank, and archaeological excavations in this area in 1987 revealed medieval and Iron Age activity.

Nicholas Pearson Associates, 2001, Buckland Abbey: Historic Survey and Restoration Plan, App. 3, p28 (Report - Survey). SDV241983.

Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 2001-2002, Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme Transcriptions and Database Records, SX4866/7-8, DAP6056/03-4 (Interpretation). SDV346287.

Earthwork ditches interpreted as a possible enclosure of unknown date are visible on aerial photographs. Map object partly based on this source.

Hegarty, C., Knight, S. and Sims, R., 2016, Backlog Recording of the Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme Survey (Personal Comment). SDV359374.

Only part of the photo reference is given in the transcription attributes, so the date of the photographs is not known.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6911 - Tamar Valley National Mapping Programme

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.