MDE20094 - Bronze Age stone axe hammer from Leeball Field (Find Spot)

A stone axe hammer was ploughed up circa 1944 in a field called 'Leeball Field'; it is not clear whether this is within the National Park boundary area. It most likely came from Cornwall and dates probably within the early and middle Bronze Age.

SS 686 396. Perforated stone axe hammer ploughed up circa 1944-5 in field called 'Leeball Field,' Buscombe Farm, Challacombe on western edge of Exmoor. Identified by the City Museum, Bristol, and studied by the stone axe subcommittee (no.1051). Microscopically a greenish-grey greenstone weathering rough; microscopically consisting of felspar, chlorite augite and magnetite with colourless horn blende. Most likely from Cornwall. Date probably within the early and middle Bronze Age, roughly between 1600 and 1200 BC. It has a hole for insertion of the handle. It remains in possession of the finder, a Mr HP Dallyn. [1-3] Greenstone axe hammer. No 1051. [4] N.B. The exact findspot for the axe hammer is not known and may lie outside the National Park boundary. It was recorded on the Devon HER as SS 686 397; the site has been moved on the Exmoor NP HER GIS to ensure it is presently shown within the NP boundary but still within the Lee Ball area. [5,6]