EDO562 - The Vines, Long Street, Sherborne; evaluation Trench 2

AC Archaeology conducted an archaeological evaluation at The Vines, Long Street during 1991 in advance of the determination of a planning application for the construction of the property 'Fortunes Fold'. The work initially comprised the hand excavation of four 1m square test pits in order to determine the depth of the subsoil and any archaeological deposits. Two trenches were then excavated by machine parallel to the Long Street frontage, one as close as possible to the frontage and the other 8m to the rear, located within existing flower beds so as not to damage formal lawns or paths. The two trenches revealed some evidence for medieval activity, including gullies/ditches that may predate sub-urban expansion along the line of Long Street and may represent field boundaries or drains. An isolated pit was excavated but its function is difficult to ascertain in the absence of associated features. the lack of medieval artefacts within the overlying deposits suggests that there was not intensive occupation within the proposed development area. Trench 2, linking test pits 3 and 4, measured 11.5m long and 1m wide. It was located 8m south of Trench 1, parallel with the Long Street frontage. 0.5-0.8m of topsoil and 0.2m of subsoil (both containing post-medieval artefacts) overlay natural yellow/orange sandy silt subsoil. Four features were identified, cut into the natural. Cut 23 was a shallow (0.05m deep) depression in the NW corner of the trench. The mid-brown fill contained frequent charcoal flecks and animal bone and 2 sherds of medieval pottery. Cut 29 was a N-S aligned ditch measuring 0.6-0.7m wide and 0.3m deep. The compact mid-brown clay/silt fill contained 4 sherds of medieval pottery and fragments of animal bone. Cut 31 was an oval pit, 0.5m wide and at least 0.8m long. The mid-brown silt fill contained frequent burnt stone, lumps of clay and flecks of mortar. One sherd of medieval pottery was also recovered from this feature. Cut 14 was a small N-S aligned ditch or gulley up to 0.4m wide and 0.2m deep. The compact mid-brown silt fill contained 3 sherds of medieval pottery and an iron nail.