EDO196 - 8 Gold Hill, Shaftesbury; excavation

Renovation of the property in 1984 gave members of the Shaftesbury and District Archaeological Group an opportunity to excavate two small trenches within the building, the owner having already reduced the levels. The evidence suggested that the period of greatest activity on the site was late or post-medieval, there being no evidence of medieval structures; a few sherds of medieval pottery were recovered but all but one piece were interpreted as residual. A substantial wall of ashlar greensand and demolition layer were late or post-medieval, and the excavators consider the possibility that this material had come from the nearby abbey, post-dissolution. The very small size of the trenches made interpretation difficult, but the excavators feel that the wall might possibly have replaced an earlier structure, suggesting an episode of renovation or up-grading at this time. The excavators identify the wall as the back wall of the top-most terraced house on 'Long Hill' shown on the 1615 map of Shaftesbury, and point out that its current position in relation to the walls of the late seventeenth-century cottage is in keeping with a widening that later maps indicate took place after 1615. The excavators conclude that, if this very small-scale excavation is representative, no substantial structure existed along the upper slopes of Gold Hill before 1539. They note, however, that historical evidence refutes this, and feel that the proximity of the abbey would suggest that there was earlier occupation of the site. Historic evidence to support this includes the fact that owners of tenements on the upper slopes of Gold Hill are known to have included tradesmen such as goldsmiths and tanners from the fourteenth century, and the name Gold Hill is thought to derive from the presence of coin-minters' workshops/dwellings. The archaeological evidence certainly suggests a period of renovation or improvement between 1539 and 1615, and this substantial building was affected by road widening in the late seventeenth century. A quantity of animal bones was recovered from the demolition layer. These bones were largely the main food animals, but included a variety of non-domestic species. They were interpreted as a rubbish deposit from a number of sources in the vicinity.