SDO14070 - An Archaeological Field Evaluation of a Proposed Development at Church Field, Shroton, Dorset

Evaluation of a site proposed for development consisted of excavation by machine of trenches, a sample of around 2% of the site. Two trenches revealed deep modern infilling in an area that had formerly been a pond. The other trenches revealed subsoil archaeological deposits over most of the site. The presence of only very small quantities of very abraded pottery made dating of all features difficult, but there was clear evidence in the centre of the site of settlement activity of late Iron Age and Romano-British date, probably spanning the 1st century BC to the 2nd century AD. Subsoil features in other parts of the site may also have been of this date, but the presence of medieval pottery in subsoil deposits may indicate more dispersed medieval activity. Slight earthworks at the southern end of the site were shown to be related to the back-filled pond. Other earthworks on the site could not be shown to be of archaeological origin.