SDO20969 - Dorset Visual Impact Provision, Phase 2. Archaeological Evaluation Report

‘Between August and October 2018 Oxford Archaeology undertook an archaeological evaluation comprising 147 trenches in the parishes of Winterbourne Abbas, Winterbourne Steepleton, Winterbourne St. Martin and Portesham along the route of the Dorset Visual Impact Provision. A geophysical survey had previously identified linear anomalies and several discrete features along the route. Trenches were positioned to investigate these anomalies and previously known heritage assets recorded on the Dorset Historic Environment Record. These works formed the second, and most substantial, of three phases of archaeological trial trenching. The evaluation identified remains dating from the early Neolithic through to the post-medieval period. A ditch of unknown function contained two sherds of Neolithic pottery and is the only feature securely dated to this period. Worked flint of Neolithic date was recovered as residual finds. Flakes indicative of axe production or maintenance were recovered from topsoil in several trenches. Utilisation of Portland Chert was noted in a small assemblage of later Neolithic worked flints. Two early Bronze age barrows, mapped by geophysical survey, were investigated in the vicinity of Rew Hill, an area known for barrow monuments. A single urned cremation and a rectilinear enclosure, both of early Bronze Age date, were also present. Evidence of Roman agricultural processing was recorded in the centre of the scheme. Related features include a corndryer, enclosure ditches and a possible trackway, all dated to the late Roman period. There is some evidence to suggest the presence of earlier 2nd century activity. Further enclosure ditches, also of late Roman date, were recorded away from this area and provide additional evidence of the wider agricultural landscape. A cluster of inhumations was recorded atop Friar Waddon Hill towards the southern limit of the scheme. Six graves were identified within a single trench and were found to cut into an earthen bank or dyke of unknown date. The excavated remains comprise one adult and three children. The children were all buried in limestone cists and a radiocarbon date from one provided an early medieval date. Few features dated to the later medieval and post-medieval periods. Undated features along the route are likely to be associated with land management, such as field boundaries of medieval or post-medieval date. However, an earlier Iron Age or Roman date cannot be ruled out.’