History - Iron Age and Beyond

5: From Ice Age Tundra to Saxon Settlement

Journey through the deep history of Sidmouth, from Ice Age mammoths and the ancient Oak-Hazel Wildwood to the Saxon salt works of Sedemuda.

To understand why Powys House sits in a managed parkland today, we must travel back to when the Sid Valley was a frozen wilderness and follow the story of the "Wildwood" that once covered the entire landscape.

1. The Ice Age and the Tundra (18,000 Years Ago)

Around 18,000 years ago, Britain was gripped by the Late Devensian glaciation. While the main ice sheets only reached as far south as the Midlands, Devon was a freezing, periglacial "tundra".

Ice Age Megafauna: During this era, Devon was home to woolly mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and hyenas.
The Big Thaw: The climate began to warm rapidly around 11,500 years ago, marking the start of our current era, the Holocene.

2. The Rise of the Wildwood

As the ice retreated, trees began to recolonise the Sid Valley in successive waves, creating a dense, natural forest known as the Wildwood.

The Tree Succession Timeline

Period Tree Species

Pioneers (10,000 years ago) Birch and Willow were the first to arrive from the south and east.

The Second Wave Pine and Hazel followed.

The Third Wave Oak and Alder arrived next.

The Climax Forest Lime and Elm completed the forest

By about 5,000 years ago, the "Peak Wildwood" covered almost the entire landscape. In the lowlands of Devon, this was a dominant Oak-Hazel woodland.

3. The Great Clearing: Human Intervention

The dense Wildwood did not disappear naturally; it was cleared by humans over thousands of years as technology advanced.

The Neolithic Revolution (c. 4000 BC): The arrival of farming required open land. The first settlers used stone axes to "ring-bark" or fell trees to create fields for wheat, barley, and livestock.
The Bronze Age (c. 2500–800 BC): Clearing intensified as populations moved from lowlands onto higher, lighter soils.
The Iron Age (c. 800 BC – AD 43): This era brought the most significant change. Iron tools made felling much more efficient than ever before.

Local Link: The massive amount of cleared land required for the residents of the nearby Sidbury Hill Fort likely led to the total removal of the Wildwood from the entire Sid Valley.

4. Sedemuda: The Saxon Origins

By the time of the Domesday Book (1086), the settlement was known as Sedemuda—Old English for "mouth of the Sid".

Land Ownership: Before the Norman Conquest, the area was part of the manor of Otterton. It was gifted by Gytha, the mother of King Harold Godwinson, to a Norman abbey in France before 1066.
Early Industry: The Domesday Book records that the abbey received thirty pence from a salt works in Sedemuda, showing that even 1,000 years ago, the valley was a site of industry and trade.

Before you go:

The Landscape Time-Machine

Objective: To identify the visible markers of different historical eras—from the Ice Age to the Saxons—within a single view of the Sid Valley (or your local equivalent).

Equipment Needed:

A high vantage point (e.g., a hill overlooking the valley).
A camera or a sketchbook.
A local map (physical or digital).

Phase 1: Identifying the Topography (Ice Age Clues)

Look at the shape of the valley itself.

The V-Shape: Notice how the River Sid has carved the valley. This process was accelerated by the massive "spring melts" at the end of the Ice Age.
The Plateaus: Look at the flat tops of the hills. During the periglacial period, these were frozen tundra where mammoths once roamed.
Sketch/Photo: Take a wide-angle shot and label the "Tundra Plateaus" and the "Meltwater Valley."

Phase 2: Spotting the "Great Clearing" (Iron Age Clues)

Scan the horizons for the highest points in the landscape.

Hill Fort Hunting: Find Sidbury Hill. Imagine it without its modern trees. In the Iron Age, it would have been a bare, fortified crown.
The Tree Line: Look at where the woods are today. Are they on steep slopes that are hard to farm? This shows you exactly where the "Great Clearing" stopped—humans cleared the easy, flat land for crops and left the "wildwood" only on the difficult inclines.

Phase 3: Seeking "Sedemuda" (Saxon Clues)

Move your focus toward the mouth of the river.

The Salt Works: The Domesday Book mentions salt production. This required flat, marshy areas near the sea and plenty of timber for boiling the brine.
The Church Hubs: Find the oldest churches (like St. Giles in Sidbury or the Parish Church in Sidmouth). These often sit on the exact sites of the original Saxon land-holdings gifted by King Athelstan or Gytha.