SDO11520 - Shaftesbury Abbey. An archaeological assessment of the site of the proposed Museum Building.

AC archaeology was commissioned by the Shaftesbury Abbey Trust to carry out an investigation of the site of the proposed new museum building. The new museum is to be situated immediately north of the wall separating the Abbey grounds from Park Walk, in the position currently occupied by the museum, flower beds and by areas used by the site gardeners. Natural subsoils, which may have been truncated during construction of the Abbey, were encountered between 215.05 and 215.32m OD and consisted of reddish-brown clays. Apparently in situ archaeological deposits were encountered between 215.28 and 215.57m OD. The information provided by the test pits suggest that the robbed-out remains of the east and west sides of the cloisters survive surrounding an area apparently devoid of structural remains but within which burials are located at a relatively shallow depth.