Series: Exeter Archaeology unpublished report series

An Historic building assessment was carried out in advance of the conversion of the ground floor and basement of the empty property into a food retail outlet. Historic building recording was also undertaken during conversion. The results are outlined in Exeter Archaeology Report Numbers 10.62 and 11.19. The present shop represents a rebuilding - around 1700 - of an earlier house, of which only the basement was retained. The new house comprised four floors with an attic and basement, the latter containing wine cellars. The layout of the ground floor probably included a shop with a kitchen behind, and further accommodation on the upper floors. Around 1800 changes were made to the shop front, affecting both the ground and first floors. In the latter the floor was raised to allow for the shop front below. A new lower ceiling was installed on the ground floor. Twentieth-century alterations included repairs on the ground floor, and subdivision of the basement into smaller rooms.

A watching brief was undertaken during conversion of an early 19th-century building into flats.

In 2007 R. Parker, J. Allan and A.G. Collings carried out an assessment of this famous building in support of applications for planning permission, Listed Building Consent, and Scheduled Monument Consent. This included the assembling of historic plans and documentary evidence, and collation of previous work carried out by Exeter Archaeology in the 1970s and 1980s.

Archaeological trench evaluation of a proposed development site of approx 50sqm. at Flamberts, Prigg Lane, South Petherton. The evaluation demonstrated the presence across the site of alluvial deposits which, where tested, were found at depths between 1.3m to 2.42m below the ground surface. Compressed organic material (peat) was observed in several locations beneath the alluvial. The evaluation produced no features or evidence of medieval occupation nor any compelling evidence of activity prior to the post-medieval period. Post-medieval activity was represented by topsoil found across the site; this mixed topsoil is probably associated with the domestic and garden use of the area as a house plot from at least the early 20th century. A feature representing a shallow E-W aligned ditch was exposed within trench 1, cutting from the level of the upper horizon of the alluvial clay. It is interpreted as a post-medieval drainage and/or boundary ditch of probable 19th-century date.

An archaeological trench evaluation of land with archaeological potential at Sentry's Farm, Exminster was undertaken by Exeter Archaeology during June 2010. The evaluation comprised the machine-excavation of eleven trenches with each trench 1.8 wide; this represents a 5% sample of the site. The evaluation has demonstrated the presence of archaeological features in eight of the eleven trenches evaluated. Although only one of these features can be dated with any certainty they appear for the most part to be early in the archaeological sequence lying below soil deposits and episodes of ploughing that have taken place in antiquity. A ditch recorded on a NE-SW alignment and recognised in three separate trenches in the main area of proposed development may represent a field boundary or an enclosure which could be prehistoric or Romano-British in date. A charcoal-rich pit, also in the main proposal area within trench 10, produced a Radiocarbon date which lies with the pre-Conquest (Saxon) period.

An archaeological trench evaluation was undertaken by Exeter Archaeology (EA) on land to the south of the B3215 Crediton Road on the edge of Okehampton. The work was required under a condition attached to planning consent for the construction of a new housing development. The site is a single field under pasture, totalling approximately 3.3hectares. It is bounded to the north by Crediton Road, considered to follow the line of the Roman road from Exeter to Launceston, to the west by a recent housing development and to the east by a pair of cottages built in the 1930's. The southern boundary consists of a substantial hedge bank. The Scheduled Ancient Monument of Okehampton Roman Fort lies approximately 250m to the north. A geophysical survey of the site, carried out in December 2009 (EA report No. 09.130), showed a number of linear features, in particular a ditch, labelled as Feature 1, and a series of shallow ditches or gullies considered to be of possible archaeological origin. A series of regular NW-SE aligned linear features were interpreted variously as probable recent land drains and widespread agricultural striations (plough scarring). The survey revealed no evidence of settlement, or of the putative Roman road that is generally considered to follow the same alignment as Crediton Road. The evaluation revealed no evidence of settlement within the site, or of the possible Roman Road and no finds were recovered. The ditch exposed in trenches 1 and 2 appears to respect the layout of the surrounding post medieval fields and is likely to represent a slighted field boundary of the same date. It is absent from the tithe map of 1841, indicating only that it had been removed by this date.

Monitoring and recording was undertaken during service trench excavations associated with a residential development. Natural subsoil was found to underlie modern deposits comprising an earlier tarmac road and associated sub base. Subsoil had been truncated, which would have removed any surface or shallow archaeological features. No archaeological features or deposits were found and no pre-modern dating evidence recovered.

A soil strip sample across the site revealed a series of former field boundaries. No dating evidence was recovered but historic map evidence demonstrates that they predate 1819. It is likely that they are medieval in origin.