EDO4092 - Poundbury Community Woodland, Maiden Castle Road, Dorchester; evaluation (Trench 4)

In October 1998 Wessex Archaeology undertook an archaeological field evaluation of land north of Maiden Castle Road, Dorchester, Dorset, in advance of the proposed planting of community woodland. Four machine-dug trenches totalling 245 square metres were excavated. The trenches were sited to cross possible archaeological features recorded as soil marks on aerial photographs. Trench 4 was aligned NW-SE along the western boundary of the site, parallel and adjacent to the A35. It measured 50m long and 1.6m wide. Four ditches aligned E-W were recorded. Ditches [402] (NW end of the trench), [404], & [406] (SE end of the trench) had similar 'U' shaped profiles and fills, with widths ranging from 0.36-0.52m and depths of 0.07-0.13m. Ditch [408] was 1.2m wide, 0.16m deep and 0.5m south of and parallel to ditch [406]. A tree throw was also recorded in the middle of the trench. Only two heavily patinated flint flakes were recovered from these features. Their alignment was similar to that of the Romano-British ditches in Trench 3, suggesting a Romano-British date for these ditches also. They may be field boundaries on the periphery of a known settlement to the west.