Category: Archaeology
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Parracombe 100 objects Village Walk and Map
Parracombe in One Hundred Objects Self-guided Walk The Parracombe in a 100 Objects Project aims to highlight objects within the landscape and village, or held in private possession, which give hints about daily life in the village from early times to the present day. Page down to see the ‘figure of 8’ route which includes…
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100 Objects 32: Medieval Cross Slab St Petrock’s
You may well have walked over this stone many times as it lies hidden beneath the rug at the door of St Petrock’s Church, possibly to try and protect it from further erosion. We don’t know where this originally came from but possibly it was once placed over a grave which is long forgotten and…
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100 Objects 31: Carved stone at St. Petrock’s Church
Close inspection of the south west buttress of the church tower will reveal this beautifully carved but damaged stone set into the corner. It is carefully positioned to reveal two faces, one carved with a quatrefoil ( four leaves) and to the rear a saltire (diagonal cross). One side face is blank and the other…
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100 Objects 30: Medieval field systems
If you are out walking when the sun is low in the sky or snow has begun to melt you may see curved ridges in many of the fields around Parracombe. These are know as ‘ridge and furrow’ and are a remnant of ancient farming methods. Peasant farmers were allocated strips of land on which…
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100 Objects 29: Star of David on Christchurch Tower
As you are about to enter Christchurch porch look up and to the left you will see that one of the stones in the tower wall is inscribed with a small Star of David. So far we have not been able to find out when or why this stone was inscribed so if you have…
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100 Objects 26: Graffiti on the wall at Renaissance House
These two inscriptions can be found in the roadside wall near Bodley Cross. They are on separate stones and seem to be two sets of initials. We have no idea when they were carved into the stone or why. The AL & GS is deeper whilst the other is more of a surface scratch. It…
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100 Objects 25: “11 ft” inscribed on a stone
This stone is in the wall of the barn by the roadside at Renaissance House near Bodley Cross. The barn was probably built in the second half of the 20th century and it looks like some of the stone is re-used from another structure. We don’t know what the figures refer to, one suggestion is…
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100 Objects 17, 18: Drain Covers
Next we have a pair of cast iron drain covers, the first from Karen Farrington, proclaiming Fredk Creek and sons Sheffied House, Combe Martin, and the second from Steve Cheetham and is stamped J Irwin also of Combe Martin. There was a lot of interest when these pictures were posted and comments included mention a…
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100 Objects 24: Handle from flagon
Another find from Bodley, reported by Kate Cox, is this jar handle probably from a cider flagon. Kate visualised a bleary old boy swigging at his cider in the sunshine and notes indentations that might be the potters finger prints. Like object 16 this is a stoneware vessel. Stonewares were made in Britain from the…
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100 Objects 16: Ink bottle
Kate Cox has found a small collection of broken bottles and pottery from hedge-bottoms at Bodley including this little ink bottle which she hit with a pick axe Kate asked if the inkbottle was likely to have been made in Barnstaple. However the fact that, despite her best attempts, it withstood the pickaxe suggests that…