EDO8084 - OASIS Rescue Excavation at Former Weymouth & Portland Borough Council Offices, North Quay, Weymouth, DT4 8TA

The Site encompasses the core area of medieval Weymouth which evolved to become the High Street until it was demolished in the 1960s, making way for the construction of the Council Offices in 1971 with associated car parking. The offices were vacated in 2016 however the car parks have remained operational. The excavation strategy is based on combining the data from a Heritage Impact Assessment (McConnell 2019), a recent evaluation through trial trenching (McConnell 2021), and the interim results of an Oral History project relating to the former High Street. The evaluation successfully demonstrated that despite the wholesale demolition of the High Street and the impact of the subsequent council offices and car park, there was a surprising level of preservation of the former properties below ground with evidence of activity from the medieval period and the genesis of the town, much of which is, critically, within the site. The open area excavation covers c. 2ha and encompasses the southern side of the Site behind and to the west of the North Quay offices, while to the east it covers the full width of the former High Street. Archaeological monitoring & recording will be carried out during demolition of the former office. Although construction of the offices destroyed any archaeology beneath the building, it is possible that demolition groundworks may exposed remains around the periphery of the building.