EDO209 - Shaftesbury Abbey, nave pier; excavation 1991

Investigation of a single nave pier by AC archaeology. The pier was known to have been at least partly reconstructed, and investigations revealed no below-ground structural remains. Only recent deposits containing quantities of decorated tile fragments were found below the rectangular dry stone structure marking its assumed aposition. It was not clear to the excavator how the recent deposits related to episodes of past destruction and more recent archaeological investigations. Further limited excavation revealed apparently in situ deposits at a depth of about 0.80m from the present ground surface, and evidence for a robber trench, possibly of a wall supporting the pier bases [1].