cba-sw newsletter #5

8/8/2019 CBA-SW Newsletter #5

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Welcome! The h edi on of our CBA SW Newsle er is a special one, with one very speci c focus and that is our forthcoming Annual General Mee ng. We havealso found room for two items of local news, to illustrate the diversity and geographical spread of our member organisa ons within the South West region, as well as ever-welcome advice on a possible source of funding and support for local projects. In our next edi on we will be providing progressreports on a number of regional ini a ves, and we would very much like toinclude your news! Our editor’s contact details can be found on the back page.

Issue 5, Spring 2011: Special AGM Edi on

This year, the AGM of the South West Regionof CBA is being held from 10.30 am to 12.30pm on Saturday 7 May at the ColdharbourMill, U culme, Cullompton, Devon EX15 3EE.The AGM in the morning will be followed bya talk, on a topic yet to be agreed. The dayis open to all, but vo ng at the AGM will be

AGMOF THE

07.05.2011

restricted to CBA regional members only.By giving as much no ce as possible of thedate and venue, we hope to encourage bothcurrent and prospec ve members to comealong, to nd out more about our work overthe past year, and to contribute their ideasand energies, as we plan for the year to come.

Coldharbour Mill is an important and livingillustra on of the history of the tex leindustry in the South West. It was built byThomas Fox in 1799 to spin woollen andlater worsted yarns, and is a rare example of a Georgian enterprise whose architectureand industrial facili es have survived intactto an impressive degree. It is now run by theColdharbour Mill Trust, who will host our visit.

Tea & co ee will be available, and therestaurant and shop will be open for lunch.In the a ernoon, Nigel Wood, who is both



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a trustee of Coldharbour Mill and a CBA SWcommi ee member, will lead a guided tourof the mill, while another trustee will beon hand to demonstrate the opera on of anumber of the looms.

for further informa on about the CBA SW AGM:

contact Barry Lane, Chair, CBA SW

(for details, see back page)for further informa on about the Coldharbour Mill

phone 01884 840960

web h p://www.coldharbourmill.org.uk

THE SOUTH SOMERSETARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH GROUP

SSARG is a community-based archaeologygroup run by volunteers. Members carry outa variety of archaeological projects in andaround South Somerset, covering periodsfrom the prehistoric to the post-medieval.These operate all year round, and everyone iswelcome to take part, from completebeginners to re red professors of archaeology! Ac vi es include excava on,geophysical and landscape survey, nds

to nd out more about the South Somerset ArchaeologicalResearch Group:

email [email protected]

web www.ssarg.org.uk

NORTH DEVON ARCHAEOLOGICALSOCIETY: THE WEST YEO FARMPROJECT

In 2009, int artefacts were found in eldsnear West Yeo Farm, Witheridge. The farm isrecorded as early as 1243, and is located ona south-facing slope just below a ridge over-looking the river Li le Dart. There is evidenceof a number of interes ng features, includinga ‘medieval causeway’ leading down to theLi le Dart across the river ats, plus a lostchapel, the old road from South Molton toWitheridge, and some abandoned co ages.NDAS therefore decided to undertake a com-plete archaeological survey of the farm, toinclude documentary research, earthworksurvey, geophysical survey, eldwalking,excava on and recording. The ini al aim of the project was to locate the founda ons of the old farmhouse, which had burned downin the late 1800’s.

NDAS were delighted to receive a grant of £500 from CBA in September 2009, to pur-chase a laptop computer on which to storethe results of earth resistance surveys. TheSociety already owned a TR earth resistancemeter which had been used successfully else-where in North Devon, and hadborrowed gradiometry equipment from CBASW (complete with extensive training!) foruse in surveying and training exercises.

processing and post-excava on work;together with ou ngs, talks and workshops,which this season include a majorpresenta on by Julian Richards.



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Fieldwalking in two elds has produced aninteres ng collec on of Mesolithic ints anda number of rough arrowheads, together withsome Neolithic arrowheads, and evidence of quartz working. The number of arrowheadsand microliths is taken to indicate that thiswas a good hun ng area. These nds have

been analysed and recorded with the help of Ann Plummer, who sadly died in December.Some of them will be on display at SouthMolton museum from 14 March 2011. The

ints will form a separate and signi cantstudy and there is more eldwalking to bedone.

Various areas of the farm are being surveyedusing the Society’s TR earth resistance meter,

by Society members old and new, and withsupport from volunteers from the localcommunity. Results so far clearly show theold byway running down the hillslope towardsthe river.

Fig 1: Earth resistance survey results of the meadow South of the farmhouse. The house and garden are the blank area to the right of the picture, the dark lines on the le show the old trackway.

In July 2010 the Society carried out anexcava on to the rear of the current farmbuildings, in order to locate the founda onsof the medieval farmhouse. Three trencheswere dug and eventually a coursed wall wasfound (beyond the reach of the earthresistance survey!). A quan ty of po erywas retrieved during the excava on, most of which was North Devon domes c ware,although some sherds of early medieval (13th

– 15th century) pot were located close to thewall, as well as during eldwalking.

Some metal detec ng has been carried out,

and this has produced a couple of Victoriancoins, but most of the nds represent farmimplements, harnessing and similar items.

Fig 2: The wall revealed in Trench 2, apparently running in asouth westerly direc on in line with a boundary on the TitheMap

Fig 3: A cobbled area already exposed, possibly part of the court of the medieval farmhouse

for further informa on about the NDAS project at West YeoFarm:

contact Derry Bryant, Vice Chair NDAS

email derrybryant@ scali.co.uk

web www.ndas.org.uk

for further informa on about West Yeo Farm itself:

web www.westyeofarm.co.uk

THE COMMUNITY ARCHAEOLOGYBURSARIES PROJECT

CBA is now seeking applica ons fromorganisa ons wishing to host placements aspart of the Community Archaeology BursariesProject. This will fund nine 12 month paidbursary placements per year in support of community archaeology projects.

to nd out more about the Community ArchaeologyBursaries Project:


web www.britarch.ac.uk/community/bursaries/host-ing



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AND NOW – OVER TO YOU!We hope that you have enjoyed this special edi on of the CBA SW Newsle er, but – moreimportantly – we hope that you will also become ac ve contributors to future edi ons. Wewant the news le er to contain informa on about the full range of ac vi es taking place in theregion, and we are keen to encourage comments and feedback on the ar cles; so as well asadver sing forthcoming events, we would very much like to include reports from members of the archaeological community who a end these events and want to share something they havelearned that may be of general interest.

VOLUNTEERS WANTED!We s ll need volunteers to join the CBA SW commi ee, which only meets three mes per year.If you are interested in nding out more, please get in touch with our Chair , Barry Lane, whosecontact details are set out in the box below.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER; JOIN THE REGIONAL GROUP!

If you would like to become a member of the South West regional group, and receive a copy of thisNewsle er regularly through the post, please contact the Membership Secretary , Sandy Colby,at 4 Ambion Rise, Market Bosworth, Nuneaton, Warks CV13 0NY; telephone 01455 290271;mobile 07872 559705; email [email protected]. Details of costs and an applica on formcan be accessed via our website at h p://www.britarch.ac.uk/cbasw/top/why_join.html.

This Newsle er has been produced by the Council for Bri sh Archaeology for the South West;independent charity no. 268532. It is published in January, June, and October each year.

If you think you may have something of interest to o er, please contact the Editor, Alan Lambourne, (details in the box below) at any me, to discuss issues

such as deadlines, format and content.

to provide feedback on this newsle erand its contents, or to submit items for afuture edi on:contactthe Chair

Barry Lane, Chair, CBA SW

email [email protected] 2 Glenco , The Hollow,

Westbury-sub-Mendip, BA51HH

phone 01749 870457ORcontacttheEditor

Alan Lambourne, Editor, CBASW Newsle er


address The Old Coach House, 70 EastStreet, Ashburton, TQ13 7AX

phone 01364 654543

cba-sw newsletter #5

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