EDO4793 - Middle Farm, Bridport Road, Poundbury, Dorchester; evaluation (Trench D)

Wessex Archaeology conducted an archaeological evaluation during February 1990, on a field east of Middle Farm, Dorchester, in advance of housing development. Fifteen machine trenches, covering some 2280 square metres, (1.9% of the development area) were excavated. Four trenches contained no visible features (Trenches E, J, K, M); two trenches only natural tree holes (Trenches A & P). The remaining 11 trenches contained archaeological features. These included nine ditch segments, one small pit, three ?marl pits, one articulated cow burial and three modern post-holes. Trench D measured 75m x 2.25m and was aligned N-Son the western side of the site. It contained an irregular sub-circular feature 6.9m from the north end of the trench, though to be a tree bole. It also revealed part of a very large roughly circular natural feature of periglacial origin filled with clay.