Summary
Civil War Fieldwork constructed in 1643, surviving as a combination of upstanding and buried archaeological deposits.
Reasons for Designation
The Civil War Fieldwork on Staddon Hill, Appledore is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Rarity: as surviving Civil War fieldworks number only around 150, and are thus rare in the national context, this example is of significance in aiding our understanding of English military history;
* Documentation: the existence of a Civil War fieldwork on the site is well documented, in the form of contemporary accounts and through later investigative works;
* Survival: despite later alteration, the site survives well in the form of both upstanding remains and buried archaeological deposits;
* Potential: the site will likely contain significant archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, use and the landscape in which it was built.
History
English Civil War fieldworks are earthworks which were raised during military operations between 1642 and 1651 to provide temporary protection for infantry or to act as gun emplacements. The earthworks, which may have been reinforced with revetting and palisades, consisted of banks and ditches and varied in complexity from simple breastworks to complex systems of banks and inter-connected trenches. They can be recognised today as surviving earthworks or as crop or soil-marks on aerial photographs. Fieldworks are recorded widely throughout England with concentrations in the main areas of campaigning, and have been recognised to be unique in representing the only evidence on the ground of military campaigns fought in England since the introduction of guns. Those with a defensive function were often sited to protect settlements or their approaches whilst those with an offensive function were designed to dominate defensive positions and to contain the besieged areas.
The site that is the subject of this assessment is located on the promontory of Staddon Hill, an elevated position at a height of around 56m, which has far-reaching views over the estuary of the Rivers Taw and Torridge. The existence of a fieldwork from the First English Civil War (1642-1646) in Appledore is well-documented, although its exact form and location do not appear to have been recorded in contemporary documents. However, local tradition places the fort at this site, and the potential strategic importance of this location is clear. It has been suggested that the fieldwork was built by Parliamentarian forces in 1643, before being taken by Royalists that same year. It was retaken by Parliamentarians in 1646. The fieldwork was likely built by Major General Chudleigh, who was also responsible for construction of the Chudleigh Fort at Bideford (National Heritage List for England (NHLE entry 1208657, Grade II-listed).
An early-C19 Admiralty chart marks Staddon Hill as Fort Hill. The Ordnance Survey (OS) 2-inch to 1-mile map of 1804 shows the site is named Fort Hill, and appears to show a cluster of three small structures, one aligned east-west and the other north-south. The Appledore Tithe Apportionment of the 1840s names part of the hill as Mount Field but does not record any buildings or features. On the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1888, a linear earthwork is depicted running at 90 degrees to a north-south aligned field boundary on Staddon Hill, with a north-south aligned building built against its east end, with a triangulation pillar immediately to the south. This depiction is also found on the 1905 and 1946 published editions. In the mid-C20 a housing estate was built on the south side of Staddon Hill.
The site has been subject to some archaeological investigation in recent decades. In 1995 an archaeological watching brief was prepared as part of the planning permission for construction of an agricultural building on the site. The site was assessed as part of the North Devon AONB National Mapping Programme (NMP) in 2011, which studied aerial photographs from between 1940 and 2010 and lidar-derived images. A magnetometer survey was undertaken in 2021, in response to a planning application to convert the existing agricultural building into a domestic dwelling. This was followed by further archaeological investigation in June and July 2021, including a topographical survey and investigation of the earthworks, and interpretation of LIDAR data. This report concluded that of the identified features, the cobbled area identified in 1995, the northern bank and ditch, the eastern ditch, and the slight southern bank are possibly associated with the Civil War fieldwork. Other buried remains, as suggested by geophysical survey and LIDAR could not be confirmed without further intrusive investigation. In 2021 the land remains in agricultural use.
Details
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: the site is located on the promontory of Staddon Hill, Appledore, at a height of 56m. The site consists of a combination of the upstanding and buried remains of a fieldwork dating from the First English Civil War, constructed in 1643.
DESCRIPTION: the upstanding elements of the site consist of a north-south aligned field boundary which extends from the Riversmeet road. This boundary cuts through an earlier linear bank which is aligned roughly east-west, extending 25m from the field boundary, with a width of up to 7.5m and a height of up to 1.4m. To the north of this linear bank is a likely associated ditch of 5m width and up to 0.10m depth.
Where the bank has been eroded by animal scrapes on its southern side, the exposed deposits indicate that it is constructed of redeposited natural local siltstone. At its eastern end, there is a stone revetment wall of up to 0.6m, constructed of blocks of local sandstone, bonded in lime mortar. The ditch to the north of the east-west linear bank projects further to the north-east, potentially the location of a demolished demi-bastion, before returning south.
Immediately to the south of the eastern end of the bank are the remains of a rectangular building, 7.5m long by 5.5m wide, with walls visible on its northern side. Further south is an irregularly shaped mound of up to 2.3m height at and 9m diameter.
The interior of the site largely consists of a rectangular platform, beneath which are the remains of a roughly cobbled surface, which lies around 0.20m beneath the surface. At the southern end of this platform is an irregularly shaped low bank, which is aligned roughly east-west and is 18m long, between 4.5m and 10.5m wide and up to 0.10m high.
Some associated buried features may survive outside of the assessment area, but as of 2021 the evidence is not conclusive enough to include them at this time.
EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: the area of protection is based on current evidence and understanding. Although there is some evidence of potential buried features outside of this area, at this stage there is not enough evidence to confirm that these features are associated with the Civil War Fieldwork, and so they are not included in this scheduling.
EXCLUSIONS: the modern agricultural building, and any further associated structures, landscaping, and fencing are excluded from the scheduling. However, the ground beneath these features is included.
