EDO3940 - Land to the West of Poundbury Farm, Dorchester; Evaluation Trench 18

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned to undertake an archaeological evaluation of land to the west of Poundbury Farm, Dorchester, in advance of the proposed Phase II Poundbury development. The site was known to contain three undated linear cropmarks and a postulated post-medieval chalk pit. Twenty-three machine-excavated trenches were investigated, each measuring at least 1.8m x 30m and totalling c. 1296 square metres. Trench 18 was 30.7m long and aligned N-S. Clay-with-flint natural subsoil was encountered at a depth of 0.65m below ground level. A slightly irregular NE-SW aligned ditch with a roughly 'V' shaped profile was excavated. No artefacts were recovered from this ditch. It may be part of the extensive Bronze Age field system that previously existed across this area. No other archaeological features were recorded.