Haldon Ridge to Dart Valley, Devon: Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey
Author(s): Cain Hegarty, Stephanie Knight, Richard Sims
The area of South Devon between the coast and Dartmoor National Park is a landscape of high archaeological potential, demonstrated by the good visibility of archaeological cropmarks and survival of nationally significant earthworks. It faces demands from agriculture, industry, forestry and increasingly, development pressures. This report synthesises the results of an aerial investigation and mapping survey (formerly called National Mapping Programme [NMP]) for an area of 290.5 square kilometres from near Haldon Ridge in the east to the Dart Valley in the west, the easternmost of three survey areas proposed for the area between the South Devon coast and Dartmoor National Park. The survey assessed aerial photographs dating from the 1930s to 2018, supplied by the Historic England Archive and Devon County Council Historic Environment Record, as well as imagery derived from Environment Agency and Tellus lidar data, to identify, interpret, transcribe and record almost 1700 archaeological sites and landscapes dating potentially from the Neolithic period to the 20th century. The most significant themes to emerge from the survey relate to later-prehistoric field systems on the limestone plateaux south of Newton Abbot and medieval to post-medieval tin-mining in the Bovey Basin, between Newton Abbot and Bovey Tracey. Both are the most extensive examples of their kind in lowland Devon and these topics form the focus of two further thematic chapters. Survey information was input to the Devon County Council (including Torbay) and Dartmoor Historic Environment Records. Nearly 1260 monuments were newly recorded and information added to over 400 existing monuments records. This increased the historic environment data by over 20% and represented a 78% increase in terms of monument types typically recorded from aerial sources. This is a significant contribution to historic environment data for this area, which is very diverse geologically, topographically and in terms of historic land use. This enhanced resource will inform further research, planning consultations and archaeological mitigation. The survey transcriptions and summary monument records can be viewed on the Devon County Council Environment Viewer, from where more detailed monument records are accessible via Heritage Gateway. Further enquiries regarding the survey results can be directed to Devon or Dartmoor Historic Environment record.
- Report Number:
- 43/2019
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 121
- Keywords:
- Medieval Prehistoric Roman Aerial Photograph Interpretation Tin Mine Field System Aerial Photography
