Human Origins Research Group

Broom Excavations: Background

The Broom gravel pits are located within the valley of the River Axe, on the border between Devon and Dorset (Figure 1). The River Axe flows through South Somerset, West Dorset and East Devon, entering the English Channel at Seaton. Between Chard Junction and Kilmington (a stretch including the Broom gravel pits), the River Axe meanders in a wide floodplain. The Axe basin is characterised by comparatively flat-topped hills and low plateaux. Some of the west and north-west facing escarpments are prominent, although the basin tends to lack steep slopes (Shakesby & Stephens 1984: 77). The Axe has a steep profile, falling 25m in the 10km between Axminster and Seaton (Wessex Archaeology 1993: 159).

Figure 1: The Axe Valley, Devon/Dorset, south-west England

There has been a long tradition of archaeological and geological research in this region. John Evans made the earliest references to Palaeolithic materials along the Axe Valley in 1872 (the first edition of Ancient Stone Implements), when he referred to four palaeoliths found by workmen erecting telegraph posts between Axminster and Chard (Evans 1872: 559). In 1878 subsequent discoveries were made in the Hawkchurch Railway Ballast pit (at Broom) by W. S. M. D'Urban (curator of the Exeter Museum). Gravel had been removed to a depth of 12m, only 3m above the current river level, while at other pit the depth of the gravel was recorded as being lower than the river level. D'Urban observed the variety of artefact states present in the assemblage, with materials occurring in both sharp and waterworn states. Gravels were subsequently exploited at Kilmington, Chard Junction, and in new pits in the Broom area (to the north and south of Holditch Lane), which were worked in the 1930's and 1940's.

The trade in palaeoliths during the late 19th and early 20th centuries is well known (Roe 1981), and Broom was no exception. Below are partial fragments of letters from W. G. Smith to Sir John Evans relating to the price of Broom artefacts (with thanks to the Ashmolean Museum (University of Oxford) for permission to cite the letters).

"Broom, Chard
I got none of these (they are all rather good) for under 10s/ea., generally 12s/
The larger specimens cost 16, 18, 20 & 22s - some are the best that have been found.
Of late I have not been able to get any at any price. Same with D'urban who bought everything - here is a scrap of one of the letters where he says he can get nothing:
"High as prices are, the men get better - where I know not"
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Fragment of a letter from Worthington Smith to Sir John Evans, 25^th December 1882 re: the purchase price of artefacts.

"There are 94 stones - the two hammers not included
The 4 from Broom cost me between 12s/ and £1/ea. 9 from Canty. 12s/ea. on the average the others 5s/6s/7s/8s - irrespective of carriage & cost of wasters
3 polished ones I gave the man £1 for & his wife (previously) a leg of mutton and a bottle of port
Some I cannot estimate, as I paid the men so much without results
If they are worth 10s/ea. to you (one with the other) send that - if not 7s/- or 5s/- - what you like - I don't mind - I shall be satisfied any way & will send a brief receipt - cannot send any acct -
Any novelties, or stone from new places that may turn up I shall be sure to reserve for Hemel Hempstead, as my duty"
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Pratt's Pit on the northern side of Holditch Lane (immediately east of the railway level crossing) was worked in the 1930s. Extensive observations were undertaken by C. E. Bean FSA (Borough Surveyor for Sherborne), acquiring a collection of at least 899 palaeoliths. The overwhelming majority of this collection consisted of handaxes with Wessex Archaeology (1993: 163) listing 1804 handaxes, 1 Levallois core and 2 Levallois flakes for the Broom sites. Bean also recorded the exposed stratigraphy in sketches and photographs. Work with Reid Moir (1936) led them to conclude that the deposit was tripartite, with "stratified gravel and old land surfaces" in between cherty gravels above and flinty gravel below. They argued that fresh palaeoliths were coming from the middle bed and derived palaeoliths from the gravels above and below. In the late 1930's Pratt & Son opened their new pit, on the south side of Holditch Lane.

During the late 1970s, investigations were undertaken by Professor Stevens and Dr's Green, Scourse and Shakesby (Shakesby & Stephens 1984; Green 1988). This work confirmed the geological observations of Bean and Reid Moir from the 1930's. It also concluded from Bean's records that the fresh palaeoliths were from the top of the flint gravels, beneath polleniferous clays and silts that were clearly interglacial (Wessex Archaeology 1993: 160).

There are very few other Palaeolithic sites yielding material from terrace gravel contexts within this region. Isolated handaxes have been found on the surface of Head deposits or solid rocks on the interfluves above the coombes which cut through the plateaux. Some material has also come from the lower slopes and the small stream beds of the coombes (e.g. at Wambrook and Whitestaunton). Wessex Archaeology (1993: 166) suggest that the artefacts from the lower levels of the coombes were originally discarded at higher levels and have descended with the Head deposits that often flank the slopes. The Head deposits extending over the plateaux contain sand and gravel and vary from 1 to 15m thickness (Ussher 1906: 48). The disturbance, reworking and movement caused by solifluction and permafrost during glacial episodes is likely to have mixed palaeoliths into the deposits.

The Chard Junction pit has yielded less material, although a Quaternary Research Association visit during the 1970's yielded a handaxe and flakes from the gravel screes and reject dump (Wymer 1977). It is therefore possible that the paucity of material reflects insufficient observation. Chard Junction is the only remaining working pit in the Axe valley.

References:

E-mail: r.hosfield@rdg.ac.uk
This page last updated at 10:03, 6^th September 2004.