Archaeological finds at Woodhayes

We have uncovered some exciting finds at Woodhayes thanks to Seán Goddard, a geophysicist from the Archaeology Department at Exeter University. He visited Woodhayes to look at the topography and discover more about its history.

Smelting in the Blackdown Hills
Various surveys have found evidence of ironworking in the Blackdown Hills, where we are based. There is some evidence for prehistoric smelting, the Romans may have continued this and it carried on into the medieval period.

The industry grew here due to the geology and abundant timber - a fuel source for the furnaces. The area is dominated by an outcrop of 'Upper Greensand', which gives the characteristic long level plateaux of the hills. The iron is located in the upper levels of the Greensand. Extraction pits are still visible locally at Kentisbeare, Broadhembury and Sheldon.

Sean told us that the ore from the Greensand plateaux is Siderite- not the best ore in the world- but is self-fluxing (meaning it is free running) and easy to smelt.

Evidence
The majority of evidence is based on finds of distinctive 'tap slag', which had been tapped from the furnace in a fluid state. The larger pieces have a glossy, rippled surface produced by the hardening of successive flows of molten slags from the base of the furnaces. They have been used as building materials notably in the 14 Century walls of Hemyock Castle. The largest piece recorded so far was found at Upottery and weighed 8.8kg. Below is the piece found on the Woodhayes land.


Slag found at Woodhayes


Dating
There is a C14 early Roman (AD 50-70) dated slag deposit in Upottery, we strongly suspect what we have is also Roman. The Roman military must have had the iron franchise in the area and we hope Woodhayes might have been their base.

Other finds
We also found a sherd of pottery adjacent to a pipe trench in the field. Sean's pot expert believes it is 18th Century trailed slipware from Donyatt, Somerset and related kilns (which may have included Honiton too.) It comes from the shoulder of a closed form such as a bucket-handled pot or a chamber pot.
 

 

Donyatt pottery sherd

 

Sean plans to return as he would also like to visit the charcoal deposit in Crownall wood. This is likely to be a charcoal burning platform and if so, would support the case for iron smelting in the immediate area.

All very interesting ! Watch this space for more details

Water Water everywhere..

At Woodhayes Farm we are blessed with our own private Spring Water supply. The farm lies below a very large Artesian well containing thousands of gallons of water, consequently there are many springs on the farm. 

Further to the farm diversification into new offices, holiday let and art gallery, we have decided to upgrade all the water system here to cover our additional needs.  

The first phase is to replace the existing metal pipes with new PVC water pipes as we have started to encounter holes and fractures in the pipes caused by rust and old age.  Then we will be putting in a new silt trap to extract sand and silt created from the source of the spring; this has to be cleaned out each year with a manual flushing system. 

At the farm end we are restoring the old 10,500 Litre reservoir, filling in cracks and re-grouting the inside with a waterproof compound. We have also just installed a new 10,000 Litre tank which will double our capacity to 20,500 Litres. 

This November a specialist contractor will bring in a machine to dig a trench for the new PVC water pipe to connect the source of the spring to the reservoirs.

Watch this space for more news and pictures of the new pipes' installation.

New 10,000 Litre black water tank beside the old brick and concrete reservoir built into the ground 

BHBA Summer Social at Woodhayes

On a beautiful summer's evening in June, the members of the Blackdown Hills Business Association gathered at Woodhayes for their annual Summer Social bash. 

Woodhayes has been part of the association since 2009. The BHBA is a not-for-profit organisation which brings together small businesses in the Blackdown Hills area. There are around 200 businesses who benefit from promoting themselves collectively and sharing best practices.

Our evening kicked off at 6.30 with drinks and then I gave a tour of the farm at 7pm. We had a delicious supper of local pork-many thanks to Ellis Farm and also Halco Products and Simpkins Edwards for a barrel of the famous Otter Ale, made just up the road by Otter Brewery in Luppitt.

Tour of Woodhayes

Ellis Farm's  delicious pork 

Discussion in Woodhayes Gallery

Woodhayes wins 'Best Farm Diversification' award

Woodhayes has scooped the award for 'Best Farm Diversification' at the Devon Farm Business Awards. 

This new awards scheme aims to celebrate the best of Devon Farming. The idea was dreamt up initially by Mary Quicke, a Devon farmer well-known for her award-winning cheeses.  The awards finally came to fruition with the help of the Devon County Agricultural Association together with farming charity, the Addington Fund and sponsored by Stephens Scown solicitors.

Judging took place in the Spring by a panel that came to the farm and asked many searching questions including 'how many hours I spent on a tractor'... 

The inaugural award dinner and ceremony was held at the Westpoint Showground, on 21 May, the night before the Devon County Show opened. Phil Reed, a partner at Stephens Scown, was master of ceremonies. We were up against stiff competition :Wild Beef, Hill Head Farm, Chagford and Lily Farm Vineyard, Budleigh Salterton. We still can't believe we won! The glass trophy and a bottle of champagne were presented by Laura Leigh from the CLA (Country Landowners' Association).

We are thrilled that all the hard work that has gone into the diversification programme at Woodhayes has been officially recognised. Thank you Devon Farm Awards !