Source/Archive record SEM8727 - Ashcombe Garden, Simonsbath, Exmoor, Somerset: Results of an archaeological evaluation

This report presents the results of an archaeological evaluation carried out by South West Archaeology Ltd. (SWARCH) at Ashcombe Garden, Simonsbath, Exmoor, Somerset. This work was informed by previous metric survey and geophysical survey of the gardens and an historic building assessment of the adjacent White Rocks Cottage. This work was conducted with a focus on community engagement and in association with Exmoor National Park Authority. This phase of work hoped to determine aspects of a possible picturesque designed landscape laid out in and after the 1820s. The most important outcome of this investigation was to determine the location and form of the main path crossing the garden and demonstrate the use of quartz gravels to its build. The use of quartz in this way is significant as it is paralleled in Picturesque gardens elsewhere. No trace or a seat or vantage was identified in Trench 5. The other trenches have proven less conclusive and have raised more (different) questions. It is possible the natural substrate encountered in Trench 1 formed the base layer to a path similar to that exposed in Trench 2. No trace of the main path was located in Trenches 3 and 4. The evidence for the boundary wall revealed in Trench 6 is equivocal about the character of its build. One clear success for the project was the level of public engagement, with enthused volunteers, school groups and a successful open day. Another significant outcome for the project has been the realisation that the Gardens are more complex than previously appreciated, and that the upper terrace (and perhaps also the lower terrace/path) are multi-phase structures. As originally conceived, these structures may have been purely functional or purely aesthetic, successively one then the other, or both from the outset.