EDO5547 - Bradford Peverell Pipeline Scheme; observations and recording

Context One Archaeological Services carried out an Archaeological Watching Brief at Bradford Peverell on behalf of Wessex Water. This was along the route of a proposed water pipeline replacement. The total length of the pipeline replacement under observation was 4.62km, and was found in the middle of a 14m wide easement along its length. The easement was made using a machine equipped with a toothless bucket, removing topsoil to a max depth of 0.40m. The trench itself was machine excavated using a 0.5m or 1m wide bucket. This was to a max depth of 3m, and a maximum width of 3m. The pipeline followed a route across the river Frome and Cerne Valleys. Here directional drilling was used to tunnel underground. Four pits measuring 2.5m by 6.5m and 2m deep were toothed bucket excavated, in order to launch the drill. Four sherds of pottery were found on the surface or in the topsoil along the route of the works. Seventy eight fragments of worked flint and four fragments of burnt flint were recovered. Three undated linear features were recorded along the route of the pipeline. No finds were recovered from any of these, and only one was identified as definitely being human made, a small, heavily-truncated ditch in field 16. This was in probability a drainage ditch.