SDO20924 - Highmoor Farm, Poole, Dorset. Archaeological Evaluation

‘Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Nuffield Health and Talbot Village Trust, to undertake an archaeological evaluation of a 11.7 ha parcel of land located in off Purchase Road, Poole, Dorset. Thirty three trial trenches were investigated and the work was undertaken between 3 April and 26 April 2023. Twelve of the excavated trial trenches contained archaeological features and deposits, demonstrating that archaeology survives across the site. The features and topsoil finds were concentrated in the northern fields of the site, with only a few features and finds uncovered in the south. A total of ten ditches, four pits, three furrows and an area of burning were investigated. Only ditch 1704 (burnt flint) and 1706 (a likely residual broken flint flake) contained finds. All other finds were recovered from the topsoil and comprised of worked flint ranging in date from Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age, indicating prehistoric activity in the vicinity. No features of certain prehistoric date were revealed, such features may have been heavily disturbed by the same agricultural activity that distributed and damaged the flint assemblage. The acidity of the natural geology may also have affected the preservation of archaeological remains, such as pottery and bone. The rectilinear anomaly targeted by trench 14 was uncovered during the evaluation, however it did not continue into trench 15. The trend which extended north of the rectilinear enclosure was possibly investigated within trench 12. No finds were recovered from these features, so it is not possible to suggest a date for the enclosure. Many of the pits contained dumped deposits of charcoal and burnt material that indicate some sort of small-scale industrial activity. Whilst it is not clear what activity these deposits derive from the sample taken from pit 1106 suggests charcoal production. Most known charcoal production pit kilns date to the early medieval or medieval period, pre-13th century. The composition of the charcoal from pit 1704 differed to the other charcoal samples, containing a range to wood types rather than just oak. And it was observed the natural geology had not been affected by heat suggesting the burnt material had cooled before being put in the pit. It had been noted in other excavations that small pits containing high concentrations of charcoal and burnt cracked stone are often associated with prehistoric features. Trenches 13, 15, 16, 19, 28–30, 34 and 36 targeted geophysical anomalies that were not observed during this evaluation. Most were labelled as ‘uncertain trend’, but trenches 13 and 15 were targeting more certain anomalies.’