Ridge Cross, Stockland, Devon

An area measuring approximately 40 x 35 m was stripped over an area in which an agricultural building was to be built after a gradiometer survey by Substrata Limited indicated the presence of a number of anomalies possibly indicating archaeological features. The footprint of the new building was over anomaly no. 39: a large roughly circular pit with clear signs of burning in situ on the bottom and sides to the surface. Radiocarbon dating of one the pit fills produced a calibrated date of AD 80 - 250 (at 95% confidence rating). The area of proposed development lay in an area of archaeological potential, particularly with reference to its proximity to Stockland Great Castle and the recovery over time of an assemblage of flint artefacts across the field.