EDO5097 - Land south of Tinneys Lane, Sherborne; evaluation trench 3

AC Archaeology conducted an archaeological evaluation during April 1996 in advance of proposed residential development South of Tinney’s Lane, Sherborne. The work comprised the machine excavation of four trenches between 20m and 21m long and 1.6m wide. The site was largely unaffected by modern disturbance and archaeological levels were generally discontinuous but well preserved. Evidence for extensive medieval quarrying was revealed in the northern part of the site, and a large ditch containing Roman pottery was also discovered. A human crouched burial of probable prehistoric date was found in the centre of the site and it may be contemporary with Bronze Age pottery found nearby. The SE part of the site had been severely truncated by post-medieval terracing and the SW part contained little of archaeological interest. Trench 3 was 21m long, aligned NW-SE, towards the SE corner of the site. Approximatley 0.5-0.9m of topsoil and post-medieval subsoil overlay natural limestone and clay. Post-medieval quarry waste in the SE part of the trench was also machined away. Several archaeological features were revealed. [F311] was a shallow linear feature. [F309] was a probable pit cut of medieval date. [F308] & [F306] were shallow pits partly truncated by [F309]. [F308] contained a single late Bronze Age or early Iron Age pottery sherd and fragments of cremated bone (1).