Archaeological Monitoring and Recording during the Construction of an Agricultural Storage Building at Old Quarry Farm, Stokenham, Devon

This report presents the results of archaeological monitoring and recording that was carried out by South West Archaeology Ltd. (SWARCH) for the construction of an agricultural storage building at Old Quarry Farm, Stokenham, Devon. The work was carried out in accordance with a Written Scheme of Investigation (Boyd 2021). A c.70m long by c.0.70m wide by c.0.65m deep trench was excavated at a right angle across the site and through the proposed development area from north to south and from east to west. The trench was excavated using a toothless grading bucket and under archaeological supervision to the depth of the natural geology. The stratigraphy of the site comprised: topsoil (100), a homogenous dark reddish-brown clay-silt that measured c.0.40m in thickness; which overlaid subsoil (101), a clean mid reddish-brown clay-silt that measured c.0.20m in thickness; which overlaid natural (102), a firm grey-red shillet-clay. A single possible feature was identified, that being a wide linear (Ditch 103) that ran from north to south across site and within the proposed development area. It measured c.1.80m in width and c.0.20m in depth on the western side and it petered out towards the eastern side. The ditch was filled by fill (104), a clean homogenous red silt-clay similar to subsoil (101), though it had a gritty manganese-rich base at the interface with the natural. It is probable that this is a natural feature, likely a spring line, given the uneven nature of the feature and the similarity of the fill to the subsoil. The results of the archaeological monitoring and recording indicated that no conclusive archaeological deposits were present and no conclusive archaeological features were identified.