Forestry Commission - News - time team’s mick aston attends neroche dig

A recent archaeological dig at Bickenhall attracted some keen interest from Time Team’s archaeologist, Mick Aston.

The dig, organised by the Neroche Scheme, was on the site of the tiny former village of Playstreet at Bickenhall near Taunton. It was Mick Aston who first located the site in aerial photos taken in the 1970s.

Local records show that Playstreet was once a thriving Medieval village located on the edge of the Forest of Neroche. It later included the house of Rachel Portman, daughter of Sir Henry Portman. This famous dynasty held estates across the Neroche area for more than 400 years.

However, the dig seems to have revealed evidence of much earlier occupation of the site, possibly dating back as far as the Twelfth or Thirteenth Century as well as possible evidence of early iron smelting.

Mick Aston visited the dig on Friday 26 September, the last day of the two-week excavation. He said: “This is a particularly exciting site. Preliminary results suggest that the site was more than just a Medieval village - it seems that iron was probably being smelted here. This is very significant as Bickenhall is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) as paying part of its rent in iron. This is one of the few references to iron working in the Blackdown Hills during the early Medieval period.”

More than 40 volunteers took part during the two weeks of the excavation, which was funded with money from the Heritage Lottery Fund through the Neroche Scheme. Visiting parties included A-Level archaeology students from Minehead College and school children from Ruishton Primary School.

Tanya James, Community History Officer with the Neroche Scheme, said:

“We are delighted that so many local people took part in what has been the biggest community archaeological excavation in Somerset for many years. Archaeologists have wanted to carry out this dig for a long time and it was finally made possible thanks to funding from the Lottery through the Neroche Scheme. We now have a far better idea of what was going on at Playstreet in the past. Pottery and other finds from the excavation will now be washed, conserved and catalogued. ”

Bob Crofts, County Archaeologist with Somerset County Council added:

“As always, the excavation has posed as many questions as it has answered, and our work has probably unearthed no more than 0.1% of the whole Playstreet village site. However the exciting discovery is that Playstreet was clearly a settlement for several centuries longer than previously thought, and may even have links to very early iron working activities.”

An open day to display the finds and results of the excavation is planned for the New Year at Neroche Parish Hall. Following this, a report will be prepared, extracts of which will be included in a Neroche Community History Book due out in late 2009.

Ends

NOTES TO EDITOR

Photos:
1. Parts of a medieval clay bowl unearthed in the dig
2 .Time Team’s Mick Aston is shown the site by county archaeologist Bob Crofts
3 .Children from Ruishton School are budding archaeologists

About the Neroche Scheme
The �3 million Neroche Scheme covers 35 square miles within the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its vision is to ‘liberate the landscape’ through a series of projects to restore wildlife, improve access and uncover the heritage of the landscape and its communities. The local community is closely involved in shaping and running the scheme, which is led by the Forestry Commission on behalf of a partnership of local authorities and agencies, backed with money from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Neroche Scheme opened the popular Staple Fitzpaine Herepath Trail earlier this summer. The Scheme is also developing Forest Schools with local primary and secondary schools, conserving wildlife in the Forestry Commission woodlands in the area, and running storytelling and bushcraft events for the public.

The Neroche Partnership is led by the Forestry Commission, with the Blackdown Hills AONB Partnership, Natural England, Somerset County Council, Devon County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Mid Devon District Council, South Somerset District Council, the National Trust, Somerset Wildlife Trust, Butterfly Conservation, and Somerset Art Week Ltd.
Contact: Neroche Office – 01823 680846 www.nerochescheme.org