EDO5397 - 19 Bell Street, Shaftesbury; excavation 1978

The Shaftesbury and District Archaeological Group investigated the floor of the cellar of 19 Bell Street in September 1978. The cellar contained two inglenook fireplaces, sealed with brick and plaster, which had been discovered and subsequently removed by the owner. The floor of the cellar was part brick and part soil and debris of twentieth-century date; this at the western end immediately in front of one of the fire places. The soil and debris (an area measuring 3m by 4m) was removed to a depth of 36cm where 'natural' was encountered. Three evenly-spaced brick walls running north-south with the remains of timber plates on each, indicating that there had been a wooden floor. The hearth level of the inglenook coincided with the wooden floor. The excavators considered that all finds were of twentieth-century date.