12/04/2023
Between November 2021 and March 2022, ISCA Archaeology carried out fieldwork on behalf of Burrington Estates prior to the construction of a new residential development on former agricultural land off Poughill Road near Bude, Cornwall.
The excavations at Poughill predominantly uncovered evidence of agricultural and settlement activity dating to the Middle Iron Age (300-100BC), a period of major social change in British history where trade was booming with Continental Europe.
During the excavations, a range of archaeological features were recorded, these included ditches, pits, and postholes. The most notable of these remains were two circular ditches, forming two separate enclosures with several internal features such as pits and postholes. Middle Iron Age pottery fragments recovered from these both these circular ditches, indicated that these were a representation of late prehistoric rural settlement within the area.
The larger, southerly ‘horseshoe’ shaped enclosure, with an entrance to the west, measured 16m in diameter and contained several postholes and pits. This feature is likely to represent a small stock enclosure, with the internal postholes marking out the location of either former internal fence line divisions or that of a small circular temporary wooden dwelling.
The slightly smaller circular ditch to the north-west, measuring 13m in diameter, contained five postholes that may be the slight remains of a domestic roundhouse. The circular ditch originally forming an external gully to divert rainwater away from the wood and earthen structure. It is likely that further internal postholes would have existed, but these have been lost to later plough damage. Experimental Archaeologists have attempted to reconstruct many examples in Britain; one such example (seen in the photograph) is from Castell Henllys Iron Age Village in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Along with the recovered pottery fragments, analysed soil samples from the two gullies produced charred wood and seed remains suggesting scrubland environment and a wetter and cooler climate during the time of occupation.
Elsewhere across the site were further ditches and gullies, that although undated are likely to have been associated with the Middle Iron Age activity, and form part of a wider dispersed agricultural landscape, of which more may still lie under the undeveloped fields to the north.
