Discovering the history of Bow and Nymet Tracey:

A Test Pit Survey

The Bow Community Archaeology Project and the XArch Project have been working together to investigate the history and archaeology of Nymet Tracey. However, it is not possible to understand the development of Nymet Tracey without considering its relationship with Bow. Therefore, the next stage of the research took a very practical and hands on approach. To help determine the development of both Nymet Tracey and Bow we conducted a test pit survey by digging small pits (1m x 1m) in the back gardens of houses in both settlements. It is hoped that by conducting such a survey, we will be able to use the finds found to compare the development of both villages.

On Saturday the 8th November and Sunday 9th November 2008, the XArch Project and the Bow Community Archaeology Project descended upon Bow and Nymet Tracey, armed with towels, buckets and sieves. Despite conducting a test pit survey in November, with its cold days and long nights, we had a good number of local volunteers and students from Exeter University who worked tirelessly throughout the day. In total we dug 7 test pits in Bow and 5 in Nymet Tracey.

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Students and local volunteers digging test pits in Bow (above) and Nymet Tracey (below)

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After the test pit survey, the Bow Archaeology Group will be cleaning all the finds ready for a Finds Day with Danielle Wootton (FLO for Devon) on 11th December 2008. For the full report follow this link