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Summary

19th and 20th century water tanks are located on the sides of the Castle motte.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1014607: Totnes Castle

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WATER TANK (XIX to Late 20th Century - 1801 AD to 2000 AD)

Full description

Brown, S. + Gent T., 1999, Totnes Castle Motte: Archaeological Watching Brief and Evaluation (Report - non-specific). SDV348097.

Brown, S. + Gent T., 1999, Totnes Castle Motte: Archaeological Watching Brief and Evaluation, 6 (Report - non-specific). SDV348097.

Deep borehole DE4 encountered a 1.6 metre deep water-filled stone or brick water tank at a depth of 0.6 metres below the surface. The tank was probably associated with a brewery which occupied the premises nearby Castle Street in the 19th century.

Brown, S., 1999, Totnes Castle Terrace Walls: An Archaeological Assessment (Report - Assessment). SDV346121.

A water tank is marked on Figure 1.

Brown, S. + Gent T., 2001, Totnes Castle Motte: Archaeological Watching Brief and Evaluation, 5, 10 (Report - non-specific). SDV348107.

A late 19th century stone water tank at the west end of the middle wall was recorded during a watching brief in 2000. A small rectangular stone structure up to 3.5 metres long and 2.5 metres wide that stood immediately to the west of the slippage area proved too unstable to conserve without considerable additional engineering works. It was decided that the structure was a water tank dating originally from the late 19th century (similar water tanks survive on the north side of the motte), and that the tank had undergone extensive consolidation and rebuilding within the last 30 years. An archaeological record was made of the tank before its partial demolition. The original water tank was built of stone rubble bonded with lime mortar, and had internal dimensions 2.5 metres by 1 metre. The west wall contained industrial brick and ceramic drain pipe, so must date from the second half of the 19th century.

Archaeological work in 1999 had identified small rectangular stone water tanks at the top of the motte as well as its northeast slope. Here the tanks, which in places have bricks built into their walls, may have been associated with a 19th-century brewery that stood at the foot of the motte on Castle Street. Elsewhere the tanks probably provided water for gardens and livestock. A small water trough, probably for animals, still exists on the east slope of the motte within the remains of a small stone structure. The trough is supplied with water from a pipe in its rear (upslope) wall. Figure 3, Plate 4.

The collection of groundwater from the sides of the motte appears to have been common place in the 19th and 20th centuries, and possibly earlier. Rainwater evidently percolates the post-medieval terrace soils but seldom penetrates far into the underlying deposits making up the Norman motte, especially the ones with high clay content. It does run down the outside of the clay deposits, beneath the post-medieval terrace soils, filling any features dug into the clay. Even just outside the keep wall, close to the top of the motte, there is sufficient groundwater to have filled a pair of stone and brick tanks, as found in 1999 during window sampling.

Stewart Brown Associates, 2002, Totnes Castle Archaeological Watching Brief (Report - Watching Brief). SDV342919.

In April 2002, an archaeological investigation was opened following the appearance of a void in the turf just outside the shell keep at the top of the Norman motte. The investigation revealed a 19th or 20th century stone built water tank.

It was known that a water tank existed on this part of the motte since 1999, when a deep exploration borehole associated with engineering works broke through its slate stone capping 0.4 metres below the ground surface and encountered 1.6 metres of stagnating water. In April 2002, the void above the tank was reported by an engineer. The tank had been drained of water and its capping was collapsing.

The water tan has a quadrilateral plan and is 1.6 metres deep. It is partly built of stone and brick. Brick capping walls, pillar and slate stone capping may possible represent secondary additions to an earlier built stone tank.

The water tank is clearly of post-medieval date, and may have been constructed as late as the 19th or 20th century.

Figures 1 and 2. Plate 1-2, 6-7

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV5528 - Evaluation and Watching Brief, Totnes Castle

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