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Hurns Close Report
Hurns Close Report
Hurns Close Report
at Hurns Close, Furlong Farm,
WestburysubMendip,
Somerset
Somerset HER PRN 27655
Barry Lane MA Oxon, FRSA
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2007
Geophysical Surveys at Hurns Close, Furlong Farm,
WestburysubMendip, Somerset
INTRODUCTION
Two geophysical surveys were undertaken in July 2006 and April to July 2007 in a pasture
field called Hurns Close on Furlong Farm, by kind permission of the owners David and
Janette Limond. The field is centred at ST 501480 and is close to the edge of the Moor at
a height of about 1020 m. OD. See Fig 1 below. The geology is Head over Estuarine
Alluvium (British Geological Survey 1984) and the soil is of the Spetchley series. The
site is recorded in the Somerset HER with the PRN 27655.
Fig 1. WestburysubMendip village and the location of Hurns Close indicated in red.
In the autumn of 1997 about 40 small sherds of Roman pottery of 2C – 3C date were
collected while fieldwalking in Hurns Close immediately to the west of a field called
The Straits. These are recorded as HER 25648 (Webster & Croft 1998). The following
year a further quantity of similar pottery was found in the banks of the small stream
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flowing south along the boundary between The Straits and Hurns Close. It is clear that
the 1997 finds were from the soil thrown up from the digging of the ditch. Mature
pollarded oaks in the hedgerow suggest that the ditch is likely to be at least 200 years old.
Originally the stream would have run through the lowest part of The Straits 20 – 40m. to
the east but, at some point, it was clearly diverted through higher ground on the western
boundary of the field.
In the autumn of 1990 a wildlife pond was dug in the centre of The Straits over the
original course of the stream. A great deal of Roman material was thrown up including
over 3kg of coarse local pottery, blackburnished ware, Oxford ware, Samian ware,
mortaria, glass, iron, hypocaust tile, lead artefacts, including a dice and two steelyard
weights, and slag, and 10 bronze coins dated by the Somerset Museum Service to the 4C
(SCMS Entry: 011844). The pottery and glass is all consistent with the 4C date (Peter
Leach, pers. comm.).
A resistivity survey undertaken in 2006 in The Straits revealed a possible rectangular
building which was tentatively suggested to be a Roman bath house (Lane 2006). Local
topography suggested that any more substantial buildings might lie to the west in Hurns
Close. A 1946 aerial photograph of the field also showed faint rectangular crop marks.
See Fig 5. Further geophysical surveys were undertaken in 2006 and 2007 in this field to
seek more evidence.
METHOD
A grid of 20m squares was established across the field. Each of these squares was then
surveyed using a magnetometer or resistance meter. The magnetometry survey was
carried out using a Geoscan FM256 Fluxgate Gradiometer on loan from Department of
Applied Sciences, Geography & Archaeology, University of Worcester.
The raw data results of the magnetometry survey are shown in Fig 2 and the processed
data located onto the base Ordnance Survey map are shown in Fig 3.
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Fig 2. Raw data from magnetometry survey.
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Fig 3. Processed magnetometry data located on Ordnance Survey map of Hurns Close,
with 2006 interpreted resistivity results in The Straits to the east.
The resistivity survey was carried out using a TR/CIA resistance meter. The Twin
Electrode configuration was employed with a probe spacing of 0.5m. Readings were
recorded at 1.0m intervals along traverses spaced 1.0m apart. The data was downloaded
using TR Systems software and a variety of algorithms were applied to the raw data to aid
visual recognition and interpretation using Archaeosurveyor software. The most
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informative of these are presented, along with the raw data, in Fig 4. Low resistance is
indicated on this greyscale by dark tones.
INTERPRETATIONS
The results of the magnetometry survey (Fig 2) reveal very little, which may be a result of
the geology of the soil. David (1995, 10) suggests that the magnetometer response is only
“average to ?poor, better in southwest England”, over alluvium/colluvium.
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Fig 4. Processed resistivity results over Ordnance Survey map of Hurns Close with the
2006 resistivity results included in The Straits to the east.
The overall irregularity of the resistivity results (Fig 4) make it difficult to identify
details, but at the southern end a number of parallel dark, low resistance lines appear to
make a rectangular corner oriented at approximately 45 degrees with respect to magnetic
North. It is just possible that there are several more similar lines oriented SWNE at a
distance to the north. No further structures may be seen. An aerial photograph from
1946 seems to confirm these orientations but those in other fields would appear to be
surface land drainage gripes. No earthworks or gripes are visible in Hurns Close today.
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Fig 5. 1946 Aerial photograph of Hurns Close with drainage gripes (?) visible in the
fields to the north and north east, and crop marks in Hurns Close.
Reference RAF 3GTUDUK1524 part of frame 5135 (1946).
CONCLUSION
The use of magnetometry over alluvial soils is not recommended (ref.) and the results
here would seem to confirm that. The resistivity results were also poor. Perhaps the
dryness of the surface soils caused the overall random or speckly results. Those faint
rectangular features that did emerge from the processing of the raw data are probably the
remnants of old surface drainage ditches or gripes. No indication of high resistance walls
or other stone structures was visible at all.
References
British Geological Survey 1984 England and Wales Sheet 280: Solid and Drift Geology
David, A 1995 Geophysical survey in archaeological fieldwork English Heritage
Lane, B 2006 A possible Roman bath house at The Straits, Furlong Farm, Westburysub
Mendip, Somerset. Unpublished.
Webster, C J & Croft, R A 1998 ‘Somerset Archaeology, 1997’ in PSANHS 141
List of Figures
Figure 1 WestburysubMendip location of Hurns Close at ST 501480
Figure 2 Raw data from magnetometry survey.
Figure 3 Processed magnetometry data located on Hurns Close, with 2006
interpreted resistivity results in The Straits
Figure 4 Processed resistivity results over Ordnance Survey map of Hurns
Close with the 2006 resistivity results included in The Straits.
Figure 5 1946 Aerial photograph of Hurns Close with drainage gripes visible in the
fields to the north and north west, and crop marks in Hurns Close.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks are due to Dr Jodie Lewis for the loan of the Geoscan magnetometer from
the Department of Applied Sciences, Geography & Archaeology, University of Worcester.
Surveyors: Barry Lane, Jill Polak, Albert Thompson, Nick Mayor, Peter
Bright, John Ball, Andrew Buchanan, Nicky Venning, John Finch,
Stephen & Rachel Taylor.
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Data processed by: Albert Thompson and Barry Lane
Date of Survey: Magnetometry July 2006
Resistivity 23 April to 9 July 2007
Report by: Barry Lane
2 Glencott, The Hollow, WestburysubMendip, Wells BA5 1HH
barry.j.lane@btopenworld.com
Date of Report: 19 September 2007