More information : [ST 6405 2365] (1) At Sigwells is a small triangular camp formed by a ditch 60 ft. wide cutting across the hill connecting two ravines which join at the obtuse angle of the camp to the north-west. No bank is visible but it may have been destroyed, or the upcast from the ditch used to raise the level of the interior. In 1878 the Rev. J.A. Bennett found flint flakes, scrapers, two leaf-shaped arrowheads and part of a bone weaving comb of Glastonbury type inside the camp. These finds are now in Taunton Museum and also a fragment of I.A.'B' ornamented pottery. Lane-Fox suggested that the camp was earlier than the adjacent B.A. barrow, [ST 62 SW 4] because the barrow overlooks the defences, but the camp appears to be a typical promotory fort with I.A. 'B' material. No evidence of an earthwork has been seen by C.E. Bean (6). (1-6) The feature described as a 'camp' is a triangular area of less than 0.4 acres situated on the edge of a sandstone plateau and centred at ST 6404 2364. It is bounded on the north and west by deep natural ravines, and cut off from the plateau to the south-east by a gully some 20 m. wide and 3.0 m. deep. If this is wholly or partly artificial it is a small earthwork of very great natural strength. But although the sandstone is very soft and easily eroded, or dug away, the great size of the gully and the absence of an associated bank suggest that it is a natural feature. Even if the gully is partly artificial its classification as a promontory fort is doubtful. The area enclosed is extremely small and the finding of a weaving comb and a single sherd of pottery, (Taunton Museum Acc. Nos. A162-3), are hardly proof of settlement. Surveyed at 1:2500 Taunton Museum have flints collected from 'Sigwells Camp' by Rev. Bennett and King's College Arch. Soc. (Acc. Nos. A2358, 2444, 2484 and 2573). A large number of Mes. - B.A. Flints have been collected from the 'camp' and the surface of field to the south. Some are in the possession of Mr. C.E. Bean of Sherbourne and Mrs. Dare of Charlton, Horethorne. (7) The complete absence of upcast and general scarp profile of the now overgrown gulley, strongly suggest that the feature known as 'Sigwells Camp' has resulted from sand digging. (8) Mesolithic artefacts from 'Horethorne' in Eton College Museum (identified by map reference with the Sigwells site): 1 core, 8 blades or flakes, 4 scrapers, 1 other item. Mesolithic artefacts from 'Sigwell Camp' in Taunton Museum: 3 cores, 23 blades or flakes. Mesolithic artefacts from the surface at 'Sigwell Farm' in C E Bean Collection: Tranchet axe sharpening flake, c 300 blades or flakes, c 30 scrapers, c 2 microliths. (9)
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