EDO5405 - 22 High Street, Shaftesbury; salvage recording 1975

Members of the Shaftesbury and District Archaeological Group carried out a small excavation in the SW corner of the cellar before it was filled with ballast. They recorded a pit or cistern below the tiled floor of the cellar. The feature was lined with sandstone, unmortared, and contained nineteenth-century material, including clay pipes and pottery. The report notes the substantial construction of the cellar walls. The west wall of the cellar was at least 4ft 11in thick, and the south wall at least 5ft 8in thick. SDAG comment that a map of the town dated 1615 suggests that the street approach to The Commons was wider than today, and these thick walls would have been quite able to support a substantial corner building.