Promoting awareness of the archaeology and history
of north Devon
ACTIVITIES
WEST YEO
Archaeology Projects (external)
WEST YEO
Report on the investigation - Link
Report on the first weeks investigation - Link
Report for investigations up to December 2009 - Link
Report for investigations Spring 2010 - Link
Fieldwalking week beginning 30 July 2009 (5 days)
Aim: to fieldwalk “New Close”, a freshly ploughed field to
the North of West Yeo Farm.
It was decided to carry out a fieldwalk on as many of the fields at West
Yeo as possible, as a significant collection of flints had been found
in 2006 on adjoining land, and been identified as Neolithic and Bronze
Age by Ann and Martin Plummer. This collection included flint tools: scrapers,
blades, awls and an arrowhead.
Methodology: Members laid out a grid formation across the field from West to East, using 20m2 grids. Each grid was then divided into 2m wide transects and walked from the baseline, with one person in each transect, from South to North and then back again. Walkers placed finds from each transect in a numbered bag, deposited at the beginning of each row, for later collection and recording. Due to heavy ploughed soil, trowels were used to lightly pick over the clods.
Results:
Grids completed over the 5 days:
Row A; 10 grids completed across the field
Row B: 7 grids completed across the field
1 day was lost due to bad weather conditions
Day 1: Weather: wet, with showers, and the soil was deep plough furrows, making walking hard, with finds difficult to spot. However, it was possible to pick out flints as they shine in the rain!
4 grids were completed, with 9 walkers.
Day 2: laid out 3 more grids. 10 walkers (joined by 2 metal detectorists from Taw & Torridge Metal Detecting Club, who walked the field with only a few “farm” items found; nails etc. They then walked part of Pond Meadow to the South side of the farmhouse and found a halfpenny (1867), a metal silver coloured badge or strap end engraved with a cross, and more “farm” metallic objects.
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Day 3: Bad weather, heavy rain, soil now cultivated but too sticky to
walk.
Spent the morning in the cartshed, processing finds found so far, plus
walk round farm buildings for new members.
Walked to causeway – found flint by tree on left bank
Day 4: Weather sunny, and dry. Soil: cultivated,damp
Grids A8, A9, A10. plus roughly walked offset below A10
7 walkers. Also returned to first 2 transects of A1 to walk (previously
too wet).
Started second row (B) B1 and B2.
Found 3 cores!
Day 5: Weather: windy/cloudy, dry to start (rain pm)
Soil: cultivated, drier. Completed grids B3,B4,B5,B6,B7
Also spent time sorting and recording finds in tent
8 walkers
Finds:
When finds cleaned, 93 flints found. Mostly flakes but some worked pieces
(arrowhead, awls, blades, pointed tools, small scrapers and several cores).
Some burned flint. Possibly also 1 heavy fabricator and 2 small fabricators.
Grid A6 seemed to contain larger amount of flints, also B4
One coin ?penny – too corroded to date.
Small pieces of black, shiny substance (?slag) were also found
A noticeable area of burned soil in Grid A7
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Small amount of pottery of mixed dates, few pieces of glass.
Summary/Observations:
Started to find cores when soil had been cultivated. Very little pottery
found, only 1 piece medieval ND ware, otherwise mostly 18/19th century.
With so many flints found on just a third of the field, indications are
that flint knapping was being carried out here to a large extent, and
the rest of the field should be examined in the same way.
Also “New Close” indicates recent enclosure, therefore site
was previously downland and has not been fertilised with midden, hence
the lack of pottery sherds.
It was calculated that it is possible to walk 5 x 20m grids per day in good weather (8 people) using transect system
Ann Plummer, co-author of the flint report in 2006 from the neighbouring farm, has agreed to identify and date flints.
Grateful thanks to all who took part; to Kate and Robert the farm owners,
for their hospitality, the loan of the tent and considerate ploughing!
Also to Vic and Cliff from Taw & Torridge Metal Detecting Club.
Walkers: Bob Shrigley (alias “grid man extraordinaire”), Sarah
and Peter Kerr, Jenny Needham, Leo Melchior, Terry Green, Brian Fox, Malcolm
Canham, June Aiken, Derry Bryant.
Derry Bryant
August 2009