Source/Archive record SEM8401 - Cloutsham Farm, Holnicote Estate: Archaeological evaluation in advance of proposed agricultural building construction

The National Trust’s Holnicote Estate tenant at Cloutsham Farm has requested a new agricultural building. The proposed location is 11m north west and parallel with an existing large modern barn which shields the new site from the vernacular farm buildings down slope across a minor road 10m to the south east. The proposed building footprint would be 22m long and 11m wide. The site has archaeological potential and Exmoor National Park archaeological staff requested an evaluation of the site prior to planning consent being given. On October 3rd 2014, National Trust archaeologist Martin Papworth visited Cloutsham, discussed the project with the Building Surveyor Chris Turner and tenant. The site was then examined for earthwork remains and subsequently two 0.7m square evaluation trenches were excavated. Both trenches revealed soil layers 0.2-0.25m deep above the natural bedrock. The top 0.1m containing modern material such as plastic and bailer twine caused by modern ground disturbance, the underlying soil a clean fine material 0.1-0.12m deep, perhaps an old plough soil. The thin band of soil at the junction with the underlying bedrock contained evidence of older occupation in the form of occasional fragments of charcoal and clinker and a fragment of probably 19th century jug. Nothing was found cutting into the stone rubble bedrock. On closer inspection it could be seen that the farm track west of the site had worn down to the same bedrock stone surface and the farmer Mr Greenward stated that the soil profile exposed in the pits was typical of that expected from the local farmland. No earthwork or documentary evidence was found to indicate that any site of archaeological significance would be affected by the proposed development.