EDO3855 - 2 Linden Avenue, Evaluation Trench 2

Terrain Archaeology carried out an evaluation in the garden of 2 Linden Avenue, Dorchester in February 2004. Four small engineering test pits in the northern part of the garden were cleaned and recorded (trenches 1, 4, 5, & 6) and a further two machine-trenches were excavated in the southern part of the site (trenches 2 & 3). Across the site overlying the natural chalk, was a layer of garden soil representing the earlier garden prior to the construction of the present house in the 1960s. Over this were levelling layers of construction debris and soil, part of the landscaping for the present garden. Two pits filled with builder’s debris were found in the northwest part of the site. Trench 2 measured 3m x 1m and was excavated to a maximum depth of 1.35m in the southern part of the garden. The natural chalk sloped down slightly from W to E, from 1.1 deep (63.69m above OD) at the west end to 1.25m (63.55m above OD) at the east end. Garden soils and made ground lay above the natural. No archaeological features were observed.