| Summary: | Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd, undertook a geophysical (magnetometer) survey covering approximately 52 hectares, on land at Houghton Barton, north-west of Newton Abbot, to inform an Archaeological and Heritage Assessment which will be submitted with an outline planning application for a residential-led mixed-use development. The survey has identified a subsquare enclosure in the west of the site that corresponds with a cropmark recorded on the Devon Historic Environment Record (DHER). No further anomalies of clear archaeological potential have been identified by the survey although two localised clusters of anomalies may locate areas of archaeological activity, one of which is located 65m west of the enclosure. The data is dominated by responses and anomalies which are due to the underlying slate bedrock, volcanic igneous intrusions and overlying alluvial deposits. Against this background anomalies indicative of agricultural activity including former boundaries, cultivation trends and field drains are frequent. A curving anomaly in the north-east of the site corresponds to an area of localised quarrying which may be of local historical interest. The majority of the site is assessed as having a low archaeological potential based on the survey results but with high potential in and around the enclosure confirming the preliminary conclusions of the Archaeological and Heritage Assessment. |
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