EDO5427 - Land to rear of 8 West Street, Wareham; observations and recording 2002

Observations and recording were undertaken by Lilian Ladle of the Wareham and District Archaeological and Local History Society during groundworks for a new building. Foundation trenches approximately 1m wide and 1.2m deep were dug by machine and cleaned by hand. This revealed a black humic soil over yellow sand and, in places, natural clay. Three pits were recorded. The filling of one contained a single piece of medieval pottery, another contained eighteenth-century pottery, and the third contained quantities of oyster shells. An outhouse (demolished as part of the development) covered a brick-built well. No evidence was recovered to date this well, but such wells were still being dug in Wareham in the late nineteenth century. A brick-lined inspection pic, associated with the use of the premises as a garage, was also noted.