EDO8193 - Wimborne Showground, Lake Farm, Wimborne Minster; geophysical survey 2024

Project Results: The caesium magnetometer survey of Field 1 confirms the previous fluxgate magnetometer results and has detected no new anomalies of archaeological significance. However, the nature of the magnetic response suggests modern land use and possibly soil improvement or green waste deposition may be compromising magnetic prospection over this area. While a technical fault with one sensor slightly degraded survey quality in Field 2, the new magnetic survey again closely replicates the previous fluxgate results. The caesium magnetometer survey has been unable to detect a characteristic anomaly caused by the mole-ploughing reported over the scheduled monument although, from comparison with previous data sets, its effects do not seem to have significantly impacted the magnetic response from the buried archaeological remains. By contrast, the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey has detected a series of linear anomalies that appear to indicate the location of the intervention due to the mole-ploughing. While there is no apparent degradation of the magnetic response, the depth of the mole-ploughing estimated from the GPR data suggests it will most likely impinge on the uppermost layers of the underlying archaeology, but perhaps has not disturbed basal deposits containing the most enhanced magnetic material.