EDO6273 - Eye Mead, Pamphill; observations and recording 2009

Archaeological watching briefs during habitat enhancement works on the River Stour at Eye Mead and the River Allen at Bickham Farm. The area at Eye Mead contained the surviving earthwork of a Roman road that ran from Lake Farm Fortress north-west towards Badbury Rings. The habitat enhancement works comprised the forming of scrapes or ponds in two fields, 1 (SY 994 999) and 2 (SY995 994), which were part of Eye Mead. The scrapes were shallow excavations designed to be marshy areas providing wetland environments. A deeper pond in Field 1 on the site of an earlier pond that had silted up was also excavated and connected to the River Stour by a drainage channel. Excavation of the old pond (Scrape 1) by machine to a depth of 0.6m revealed shallow topsoil over alluvial clays and no features of archaeological significance. The old pond was associated with three relic channels joing it to the river and a stream but these channels were undated. During further deepening of the new pond by 0.3m four timbers were found in the edge of the old pond, two of them being removed. Examination of the timbers indicated undetermined earlier activity in the field. Excavation of scrape 4 in field 2 covered a larger area (70m by 105m by 40m). A small amount of finds were recovered including post medieval brick and tile, glass, coal, clay pipe and pottery, all of approximately 19th century date, with one discrete deposit probably of 18th to 19th century. Excavation of the scrapes 2 and 3 in Field 1 to a depth of 0.2m revealed similar stratigraphy. In Scrape 2, which measured 14m by 15m by 0.4m deep, there was a small collection of animal bone and one piece of later 19th century pottery. Scrape 3 measured 10m by 15m by 0.4m deep.