EDO194 - Proposed Car Park Extension to Westminster Memorial Hospital, Shaftesbury; evaluation Stage 2

'In November 1994 Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Salisbury Health Care to formulate a design for, and to undertake, an archaeological evaluation of, the site of a proposed car park extension for the Westminster Memorial Hospital, Shaftesbury, Dorset. The first stage of the evaluation, an auger survey, was undertaken in late January 1995. The results of this work, allied with those obtained by radar survey undertaken by Emrad Ltd, shows there to be a consistent 1.20m to 1.35m of overburden over natural across the site except along the Magdalene Lane frontage where up to 1.80m of overburden are present. The results suggested the presence of a linear depression along the Magdalene Street frontage, possibly representing either a former line or edge of the road which has been subsequently levelled and backfilled during the use of the garden, or the former line of a defensive ditch, perhaps relating to the Saxon burh. Stage 2 of the project comprised machine trenching to investigae the observed linear depression, two areas of radar detected geophysical anomaly and the general character of other areas of the site. A total of four trenches was excavated, revealing a range of archaeological deposits dated from the 12th-13th century to the present day.' Foremost among the deposits was a substantial stone structure and associated yard, ground surface, ditch and well dating from the 12th-13th century. Ecofactual material was also recovered. The site lies within a garden area of the medieval abbey precinct. Residual prehistoric and Late Saxon pottery was recorded, although no evidence for the Saxon burh defences was recovered suggesting that they lay further to the east and that the site lies within the area of the former Saxon burh.