South West Archaeology Ltd. (SWARCH) was commissioned by a Private Client (the Client) to undertake an archaeological excavation on land at SX 587 548, Plympton, Devon as part of the planning requirements to be completed in advance of the construction of a livestock building. This work was undertaken in line with best practice, CIfA guidance and in line with a Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) drawn up in consultation with Devon County Council's Historic Environment Team (DCHET). An area of c. 16m wide by c. 37.5m long in the proposed location of the livestock building was excavated down to the local geological natural. This was done using a toothless excavator bucket under the supervision and control of an archaeologist in accordance with the WSI and CIfA guidelines (Boyd, 2024). Any archaeological features revealed were excavated to assess the stratigraphy and for finds recovery. In conclusion the excavation of the area of the proposed livestock barn revealed a minimal amount of archaeological features with very little that can be learned. The major features that appeared on the geophysical turned out to be a land drain. The archaeological features that were investigated were shown to be relatively shallow and produced no dating evidence. The single ditch may form part of a removed field-boundary, likely of post-medieval date. Due to the lack of depth and evidence of plough scars the existing features were likely heavily disturbed. All finds recovered were post-medieval to modern in date and found within the topsoil.
Paine et al. (Wed,) studied this question.