Old Ashburton

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                                                              Found in the Ground

                                                           Archaeology and Ashburton

Above: Artwork made from broken pieces of pottery, glass, clay pipes and copper nails, mostly found in the River Ashburn, which runs through the Dartmoor Tea Estate.
Many thanks to Dartmoor Tea Estate
Dartmoor Estate Tea - accessed 06-04-2025

Historical periods
Neolithic 4000BC - 2300BC
Bronze Age 2300BC - 800BC
Iron Age 800BC - AD43
Roman AD43 - 410
Medieval 410 - 1485, includes:
Anglo-Saxon 410 - 1066
Viking 793 - 1066
Norman 1066 - 1154
Tudor 1485 - 1603
Stuart 1603 - 1714
Georgian 1714 -1837
Victorian 1837 -1901
Edwardian 1901 - 1910
House of Winsor 1910 onwards

For good background reading on archaeology see:  
https://kylarmack.com/blogs/news/all-about-archaeology-from-history-sites-to-jewelry-and-other-artifacts
-accessed 05-04-2025
With thanks to Isaiah

The Portable Antiquities Scheme, Advice for finders of archaeological objects and treasure:
PAT-leaflet-FINAL.pdf - accessed 14-04-2025

Devon Archaeological Society: Home - Devon Archaeological Society 

The Devon and Dartmoor HER. It 'is a record of the known archaeology and historic environment for the county of Devon, including Dartmoor National Park. It includes records of archaeological sites, historic buildings, historic landscapes and related information.'
There are 864 results for Ashburton.
Heritage Gateway - Results - accessed 30-03-2025
Some examples from HER:
Macehead* found built into a cobbled floor of a circa 1838 outhouse at the rear of 69 North Street
* A macehead is the stone or metal top of a mace (a club-type weapon, can be ceremonial), usually perforated. 
Heritage Gateway - Results - accessed 11-04-2025
Macehead - Oxford Reference - accessed 11-04-2025

Bronze palstave** found by the South Devon Water Board 1960s/70s during excavation of the road from Caton to Stormsdown.
** A palstave is a type of early bronze axe. 
Heritage Gateway - Results - accessed 13-04-2025
https://www.dovermuseum.co.uk

Newton Abbot District Metal Detecting Club has a website here:
They have found items from the Roman period up to World War II, including tools, jewellery, buttons, badges and ammunition.

 *                                                         History beneath our feet                                                           *                

Left: The previous floor in the south corner of St Andrew's church, revealed during renovations.
My own photograph 2015
See the page on St Andrew's, under Churches and Memorials. It includes a link to the report made by Oakford Archaeology in 2015
Right: Previous floor level at the back of 4, North Street.
With thanks to Lloyd Roberts

Below: The remains of old surfacing in Stapledon Lane
My own photograph 2016

A  new sewer was being installed in East Street in 1856. An old street and pavement were found about a foot and a half below the current surface, and the Western Times commented that a large open gutter used to run in the centre of the street, down to the river at the Bullring.
Western Times 2 August 1856, p7 col3
     
                      Some other clues to the past, found below and above the ground
With thanks to Bob Heath and Ashburton Museum
Left and below: Flints and other tools found in the Welstor area by the owner at the time, Mrs. Whitley.
They were formerly displayed in Ashburton Museum, but are not currently (2025) accessible.
See the HER record no. MDV 8010, "Artefact scatter from fields north-west of Welstor House". They include scrapers, arrowheads and spindle whorls.
Heritage Gateway - Results - accessed 13-04-2025

'The frequent finds of Roman coins in old cob walls, and in sinking foundations and wells, seem to point to a very early occupation of [Ashburton's] present site...'
P F S Amery, Sketch of Ashburton and the Woollen Trade, Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol 8, Plymouth, 1876, p323

Amongst an exhibition of antiquities at the Ashburton Institute in 1884 was a silver denarius of Decius 250AD, from old buildings opposite Dr. Gervis' house*; 3 brass coins of Constantine, from the same buildings; 3 other brass coins and another Roman coin.
Totnes Weekly Times 13 December 1884, p4 col3
*In 1891 Walter S Gervis, MD and General Practitioner, was living in West Street, a few properties up from the Exeter Inn.
1891 census RG12, piece no. 1898, folio 34, p3

J S Amery said, in 1924, that there had been frequent discoveries of Roman coins, including those of Claudius and Decius. 'I know not of any other relics of Roman origin.'
J S Amery's Presidential address, Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol 56, 1925, p46

For more on Ashburton in Roman times, see Early History

See article on identifying Roman coins 
How to identify roman coins - accessed 13-04-2025
And for identifying coins in general, see Tony Clayton's Pictures of Coins of the UK
Coins of the UK - Pictures Index - accessed 13-04-2025

 
Examples of Roman coins, not from Ashburton.
Above left to right: Coin, Decius, uploaded by Rasiel Suarez, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Coin, Constantine, uploaded by Münzkabinett Berlin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Coin, Claudius, uploaded by Coin Archives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons


In 1990 builders were carrying rubbish in a bag whilst renovating the Royal Oak Inn in the town. A piece of glass cut open the bag, and a musket ball fell out.

The debris was then searched, and amongst other finds were: several small grey military tunic buttons
an old leather double buckle military belt
four musket balls
three clay pipe bowls, one with a military insignia

Advertiser/Post 1 June 1990, p22 col 1-2
See Conflict, under Ashburton in Peril

Left: 
Examples of musket balls, not from Ashburton.
A collection of lead musket balls and shot, likely post medieval.
The Portable Antiquities Scheme, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The lead sphere on the right is just under 2 centimetres in diameter. It is facetted, so may not be smooth enough for a musket ball?
Right: Object found in 'Pop' Bonstow's cobbled farmyard (now the car-park) in the 1950s
With thanks to R Bligh

Left: A horse brass noseband, almost certainly made by George Edgecomb. 
With many thanks to Jim Webster

See Saddlers and Harness Makers, under Banks and Businesses
In 1852 John Sparke Amery of Druid, Ashburton, James Whitton Arundell of 11 Chancery Lane, Middlesex, William Williams of Buckfastleigh, (mining agent ) and Edward Preston Walker of Arlington Street, Middlesex,  entered into a 7 year lease 'To search for ores, metals and minerals in Druid and Rew Down' 
The documents, ref 2180/7  1852, are held at the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office. 

See Quarries and Mines, under Banks and Businesses

Right: Copper ore (at least I think it is) found at Druid Mine in the 1990s.
With thanks to R Bligh

The artwork at the top of the page incorporates pieces of clay pipe stems -  I remember finding stems like these as a child in a garden in Druid Road. 
Tobacco was brought back from the New World in the 16th century, and according to GQ Tobaccos, clay pipes originate from this time. Designs changed over time, the cost of tobacco affecting the shape and size of the bowl.  Pipes often commemorated national events and famous people, and  all of these factors may help to date the item.
Clay pipes were still being produced throughout the 20th century.
For dating pipes, see article at the National Pipe Archive.
Also the 'How to' page, on best practice for excavating, cleaning, recording etc. finds.
http://www.pipearchive.co.uk - accessed 09-04-2025

Left: Clay pipes in the Bedford Museum.
White pipe clay - Wikipedia Author Simon Speed. 
In the public domain

'The landlady of the Bay Horse, Bessie Elford, said that both Noah and his wife had been in the public house earlier in the day, and had had two three half-penny worth of beer. In addition, Priscilla had had a clay pipe. They had both behaved quietly. '
See Crime and Punishment, under Ashburton in Peril
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