Ipplepen Exhibition at Torquay Museum Receives HLF Funding - Torquay Museum

By: Barry Chandler
Added: 23 October 2018

Ipplepen: Rethinking the Romans in Devon

Torquay Museum is embarking on a project with the British Museum and the University of Exeter to interpret some of the finds from the recent excavations at Ipplepen for the first time. The project is funded by the HLF Sharing Heritage Fund, The British Museum Trust and Torquay Museum.

Metal detectorists Dennis Hewings and Jim Wills, who found 74 Roman coins, between 2007 and 2010, discovered the multi-period archaeological site at Ipplepen. The significance of the finds was recognised through the Portable Antiquities Scheme when the coins were analysed by Sam Moorhead at the British Museum. The sheer number of coins led to a geophysical survey of the area and archaeological excavations led by the University of Exeter followed.

In the past 20 years an increasing number of Roman period finds (many housed in Torquay Museum) are slowly rewriting our understanding of this region of Devon, which was largely believed to have been relatively untouched by the Roman invasion. Working with the British Museum, the project will create exciting, relevant and innovative graphic interpretation about this developing area of knowledge. This will help our audiences understand the site and particularly the process of investigation at this interim stage.