The boat found at Kingsteignton, Devon, in 1898

The remains of a 19th-century find of a medieval clinker-built vessel have been subject to modem examination and radiocarbon and dendrochronological dates obtained.     

The Monuments in the Parish Church,Colyton, Devon

Abstract

This paper provides an edition of a stray duchy of Lancaster building account currently located in the archives of the Spalding Gentleman’s Society and relating to building works at Pontefract castle. The roll contains what are referred to as ‘the parcells’ of account for the year 1406–07. Few such accounts survive for this period. Pontefract was an important centre under Henry IV, having housed the deposed Richard II until his death. The work being done at the castle was part of the rebuilding of the quarters of Robert Waterton, constable of Pontefract. Robert de Gamelston of Nottinghamshire is known from other sources as a quarryman and master mason, but this account extends the period for which he is known to have been active. Details of the quarries and of the work and wages of the masons, carpenters and smiths are provided.     

Farm and Threshing Mill at Poltimore Farm,Farway, Devon

Abstract

This article is based on a report compiled for English Heritage to accompany a series of measured drawings commissioned by them of the remarkably complete and well-maintained water-powered farm threshing mill at Poltimore Farm in east Devon. The machinery and buildings were recorded in January 1990, prior to repair and restoration work.     

Observations Of Water Hardness From Southwest Devon Island, Northwest Territories

Over the thaw period of 1970, the hardness in “Jason's Creek” increased systematically. Waters from other sources in the area, sampled in 1969 and 1970, show increases in hardness with distance of travel downslope, from large flows to small flows, and from flowing water to standing water. The highest total hardness values are from vegetated pools of standing water (as also reported by Smith (1969) in Somerset Island). The hardness of water which has had no contact with regolith or bedrock can be sharply differentiated from that of water which has been in such contact. This observation, together with the increase in hardness with distance of travel, may be consequent upon a slow attainment of chemical equilibrium in these arctic waters. It may also be possible to draw a distinction between the solutional work done by snowmeit water and that done by rainwater. The latter has a lower initial pH and, for comparable volumes of discharge, generates higher values of hardness. These preliminary conclusions are to be tested in future stages of this project, which in 1971 and 1972 will be concerned with the hydrology of a larger stream, the river Mecham, near Resolute on Cornwallis Island. Monitoring of the solute content of waters throughout the Mecham basin is an important part of the proposed research.     

Science,landscape archaeology and public participation: The Community Landscape Project,Devon, UK

Abstract

This paper presents and describes the background to the Community Landscape Project (CLP), which commenced in Devon in 2001 with funding from sources that include the United Kingdom Heritage Lottery Fund. The project is concerned with increasing public participation in landscape archaeology and, unusually, palaeoenvironmental studies, with the aim of dispelling the myth that archaeology is only about excavation and ‘finds’. The paper describes the project's genesis and its success in increasing public participation in landscape archaeology. The unusual features of the project include its scientific palaeoenvironmental content, both in the field and in the laboratory (environmental stratigraphy and pollen analysis) and its use of GIS. It is argued that this kind of project, with external or charity funding, has become essential because of a high demand coupled with a funding gap between the government, local societies and universities. Lessons have been learnt and some of these are summarised here with the aim of helping others to devise and run innovative and inclusive community archaeology projects.     

Medieval Houses in Devon and Their Modernization

RECENT research suggests that the fully single-storied house remained common among substantial vernacular houses in Devon down to the end of the medieval period. The most important feature of these houses is that many of their internal partitions were screens that were only some 6 ft. high. In modernization, while an open hearth was retained in the hall, an upper floor was often jettied into the hall, over the low partition. At a later stage these internal jetties were used in original work. The houses with low partitions can be seen as a stage in the evolution of the medieval house, linking the evidence of surviving buildings with that of buildings known only from excavation.     

The St Helens Iron Foundry

Abstract

Initial documentary research undertaken by Lancaster University Archaeological Unit (LUAU) in 1995 for 'The Hotties Science & Arts Centre Ltd.' (hereafter The Hotties) revealed the existence of a former iron foundry on part of the development site for the wider The World of Glass Project which will portray the technical development and heritage of the glass industry in St Helens. Between January 1996 and November 1997 LUAU were commissioned by The Hotties to undertake a range of archaeological works resulting in the excavation of a smithy complex. Known as the St Helens Iron Foundry, and latterly owned by the Daglish family, the site had an international reputation for the casting and building of steam pumping and winding engines for the mining industry. It was particularly successful during the mid-19th century producing locomotives and bridges for the expanding railway network. The foundry was in continuous production from 1798, until its decline and eventual demolition in 1939.     

Landscape Archaeology,Heritage and the Community in Devon: An Oral History Approach

In the context of recent media, governmental, academic and popular attention and enthusiasm for debates surrounding the construction and meaning of the British countryside, this paper outlines the potential for oral history to make a contribution. Working in Devon, the authors outline how an oral history methodology can engage with the fields of landscape archaeology and heritage studies. As well as augmenting and supporting more traditional approaches to landscape, oral history techniques can be used to challenge and destabilise existing knowledge, thereby moving the process of ‘democratisation’ in knowledge construction of the rural landscape from practices of scientific ‘complicity’ towards one of critical engagement.