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Summary

The former vicarage garden extended along the east side of Church Street, from Belle Parade in the north, to the northern boundary of Holy Cross Church.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1197126: WALL TO NORTH OF LANE, INCLUDING GATEWAY AND RETURN IN CHURCH STREET
• Listed Building (II) 1197127: BOUNDARY WALL TO THE WEST AND NORTH OF GLEBE HOUSE

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS80SW/73/1

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• GARDEN (XVII - 1601 AD to 1700 AD)

Full description

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

The Vicarage garden shown extended along the east side of Church Street from Belle Parade in the north to the northern boundary of Holy Cross Church to the south. 'Site of St Gregory's Cathedral' is shown in the south-eastern corner of the garden. Map object based on this source.

Timms, S. C., 1982, Untitled Source (Worksheet). SDV339911.

A stone wall was discovered by the vicar in the garden in 1975.

Henderson, C. G. + Weddell, P. J., 1985, Archaeological Investigations at Crediton Vicarage 1984: Preliminary Report (Report - Assessment). SDV53274.

In 1984 a new vicarage was built in the former vicarage garden. Excavation in advance of construction was undertaken. A trench at the bottom of the garden produced evidence of waterlogged Saxo-Norman deposits. At SS83630034 parts of a Saxo-Roman structure and a single Roman tile were found.

Weddell, P. J. + Henderson, C. G., 1985, Crediton Vicarage Excavation, 1984 (Article in Serial). SDV354911.

In July 1984 trial excavations were carried out in the grounds of the old vicarage. Despite the small scale of the excavation, several Saxo-Norman features were found, and a number of observations were made which suggest that further excavation in this part of Crediton would produce important material evidence from this period.

Henderson, C. G., 1991, South West Water Crediton Resewerage Scheme Archaeological Excavation in Crediton Vicarage Garden (Report - Watching Brief). SDV355314.

A trench c50m long and up to 3m deep, aligned east-west, was excavated in the garden of the vicarage in order to record archaeological deposits along the line of a new sewer. A large quantity of artefacts was recovered from the excavation. A later medieval wall footing was uncovered during the excavation which belonged to a building to the north of the stream, which perhaps stood in the grounds of the bishop's palace. Also revealed were some substantial post medieval walls belonging to a pair of buildings on either side of an open courtyard on the north of the churchyard, possibly part of the schoolmaster's house built in 1573. The earliest finds recovered were a few fragments of Roman tile recovered from medieval levels. These join a similar piece from the site of the new (1984) vicarage nearby and are indicative of Roman settlement in the vicinity. Other finds include quantities of pottery from the Barnstaple and Bideford pottery kilns, two early jet buttons, a halfpenny of Charles II and an Exeter hallmarked 17th century silver spoon.

Borthwick, A., 1999, Land off Mill Street, Crediton: The archaeological and historical implications of development (Report - Assessment). SDV323116.

The diverted and culverted stream course running east to west across the southern edge of the vicarage grounds may have been the 'Litterburn' shown on Norden's survey of 1598 and may have marked the northern extent of the early Saxon or early medieval settlement.

Gent, T. H., 2007, Review of the Archaeological Evidence for the Location of the Saxon Minster at Crediton, 3; figures 1-2, 4, 6-7 (Report - Assessment). SDV339904.

Excavations on the site of the new vicarage, in the garden of the former vicarage, were undertaken in 1984. A shallow gully was interpreted as the foundation trench for a timber building of Saxo-Norman date. A short section of medieval ditch was also exposed. Two sections of post medieval barrel sewer was exposed on the western and southern sides of the garden. A stone lined pit was interpreted as a garderobe or latrine possibly an internal feature of the former collegiate buildings. The culverted stream running east to west along the southern edge of the vicarage grounds was formerly known as the Litterburn which divided the grounds from the churchyard before the latter was extended in the 19th century when the collegiate buildings were demolished. An extract from the copy of the 1598 Norden survey shows a rectangular field labelled 'Vicars Close'.

Allan, J. + Blackmore, S. + Passmore, A., 2010, Archaeological investigations around Crediton Parish Church, 1984-2007 (Article in Serial). SDV363629.

The area occupied by the Vicarage Garden was formerly part of the lands owned by the governors of Crediton church and extended southwards to the churchyard.
The identification of the site as that of the medieval college of the vicars choral, marked as Vicars Close on John Norden's map of 1598, was borne out by excavation.
A workhouse was built here in the late 17th century but had been demolished by 1836. The vicarage was built at the northern end of the plot circa 1800. A new vicarage was built in the garden in 1984. Excavations on the site of the new vicarage revealed the foundation trench for a wall of a Saxo-Norman building.
See article for further details.

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

Map object based on this source.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4348 - Assessment of a Survey Searching for the Saxon Minster in Crediton
• EDV8262 - Excavation on the site of the new vicarage, Crediton
• EDV8263 - Excavation in Crediton Church car park
• EDV9257 - Archaeological excavation in Crediton Vicarage Garden for the South West Water Crediton Resewerage Scheme

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