Cambria Farm

Cambria Farm lies between Ruishton and Taunton in Somerset, on ground once home to Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman settlers. The site sits beside the M5 motorway’s Junction 25, where a park-and-ride now stands. Archaeologists from Context One surveyed the area in 2007 before construction began. Early in 2009 they returned for further digging and uncovered traces of past lives. The farm’s fields have preserved these remains for thousands of years. The dig revealed burnt mounds from the Bronze Age and roundhouses from the Middle Bronze Age and Late Iron Age. A late Iron Age field system was still in use until the 3rd or 4th century AD. Three rectangular post-built structures and five roundhouses were identified, one measuring 17 metres across. A Roman field system and a small cemetery with thirty burials from the 2nd to 4th centuries were also found. Finds include iron shears, spear tips, loom weights and Roman coins. Visitors can see where these discoveries were made, though nothing remains above ground today. The artefacts themselves are displayed in the Museum of Somerset. Examples of Glastonbury-type pottery and three Iron Age spearheads were among the most notable finds. The farm’s landscape still hints at the ancient field boundaries once used by Iron Age farmers. The evidence shows continuous occupation from 1500 BC to around 400 AD.