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Summary

Site of a Victorian building which was demolished recently prior to redevelopment of the site. Archaeological trench evaluation of the site found a ditch running parallel to the town wall and Green Lanes which may be the remnants of a medieval burgage plot boundary together with evidence of stone built walls which respect the line of the ditch and which may also be medieval in origin. Later features include brick walls representing structures dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, pre-dating the Victorian building, and also internal divisions within the latter building.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• North Devon District Council Rescue Archaeology Unit Site Code: ND84
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS53SE/399

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BUILDING (XIX - 1801 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1855-1895, First Edition 1:500 Town Map (Cartographic). SDV338879.

Building depicted in this location.

North Devon District Council Rescue Archaeology Unit, 1991, North Devon Archaeological Site Code Index, SiteCode ND84 (Report - non-specific). SDV63429.

Early wall revealed beneath the modern rendering.

Southwest Archaeology, 2013, Greater Barnstaple Area Project Database, Mapping Area 75 (Un-published). SDV351581.

Cullen, B + Thompson, S, 2013, Joy Street, Green Lanes, Barnstaple, Evaluation (Report - Evaluation). SDV357185.

A number of features were revealed during an archaeological trench evaluation on the site of 22 Joy Street following its demolition, prior to redevelopment of the site. The earliest identified remains consisted of a possible medieval ditch which was aligned with the course of the medieval town walls, a shallow ditch or wall footing and a large stone built buttress structure; all within Trench 2. No finds were recovered which were directly associated with these features to provide a date, however they were clearly different, in form and construction and their location within the archaeological sequence and therefore a medieval date is possible. Later features included post-medieval brick built walls, which were aligned with the existing property boundaries, which followed the arrangement of long narrow properties indicative of medieval burgage plots. The walls partly represent structures dating to the 17th and 18th centuries which pre-date the Victorian building which occupied the site until recently, and also internal divisions within the latter building.
The evaluation produced a small finds assemblage comprising mainly pottery and animal bone, although a very worn piece of decorated floor tile and a fragment of post medieval roof tile were found in Trench One. The pottery was predominently post-medieval but two medieval sherds were recovered from Trench 1.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

Powell, A. B., 2017, Excavation at 22 and 23 Joy Street, Barnstable: Late Medieval to Modern Occupation, 233-270 (Article in Serial). SDV364160.

Article summarising the archaeological works undertaken at in 2015-2016 by Wessex Archaeology following the demolition of 19th century buildings on the site.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6579 - Evaluation, Green Lane, Joy Street Development, Barnstaple (Ref: 78942.03)

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