Cambria Farm is the site of a Bronze, Iron Age, Roman rural settlement, between Ruishton and Taunton, Somerset, England.

Cambria Farm
Cambria Farm is located in Somerset
Cambria Farm
Location of Cambria Farm in Somerset
Locationbetween Ruishton and Taunton, Somerset, England
Coordinates51°01′01″N 3°03′33″W / 51.01694°N 3.05917°W / 51.01694; -3.05917
Built1000 BC to 400 AD

A survey of the site was carried by Context One in 2007 out prior to the construction of a Park and ride close to Junction 25 of the M5 motorway.[2] In early 2009 further exploration and excavation was carried out. It uncovered Bronze Age burnt mounds,[3] Middle Bronze Age and Late Iron Age roundhouses, and a field system established in the late Iron Age that remained in use until the 3rd or 4th century AD.[4]

The evidence of human occupation was dated as between 1500 BC to 400 AD.[5] The buildings included three possible rectilinear post-built structures and at least five roundhouses, one of which was 17 metres (56 ft) in diameter. A Roman field system and small inhumation cemetery containing 30 burials dating from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD was also discovered.[6]

Finds from the site include a pair of iron shears, iron spear tips, animal bones, flint tools, loom weights, Iron Age and Roman brooches and Roman coins. They will be displayed in the Museum of Somerset.[7] Examples of Glastonbury type pottery,[8] and three Iron Age spearheads were also found.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Monument No. 190630". National Monument Record. English Heritage. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Land at Cambria Farm, Taunton, Somerset. An Archaeological Field Evaluation" (PDF). Somerset County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  3. ^ "Exciting Iron Age finds at proposed Somerset park-and-ride site". Western Daily Press. This is Bristol. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  4. ^ "Cambria Farm". Megalithic Portal. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  5. ^ "Archaeologists Unearth Iron Age Settlement During Dig In Taunton". Culture 24. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  6. ^ "Excavation (2008-9), Cambria Farm, Taunton". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  7. ^ "Somerset Heritage Service Newsletter. Issue 5" (PDF). Somerset County Council. January 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  8. ^ "Bronze Age sauna discovered on site earmarked for park and ride scheme". The Telegraph. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  9. ^ "Roman finds at park-and-ride site". BBC. 23 March 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2011.