EDO8244 - Preston Roman Villa, Weymouth Haven Holiday Park, Weymouth; observations and recording 2025

OASIS: Oxford Archaeology (OA) was commissioned by RPS Consulting, on behalf of Bourne Leisure Ltd to undertake a watching brief and initial recording during the ongoing excavation of an electricity cable at the Haven Weymouth Bay Holiday Park. Prior to any archaeological attendance a new cable trench was partially excavated through a Scheduled Monument (Preston Villa: SM DO 64, HA 1002704). Work within the scheduled area was halted following a site visit from the Historic England Inspector of Ancient Monuments. Work was permitted to recommence under archaeological supervision, once a Written Scheme of Investigation (RPS 2025) and Scheduled Monument Consent {ref: S00246937- Appendix E) had been approved by Historic England. All archaeological work was carried out in accordance with these documents. All work was carried out in accordance with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists' Code of Conduct, Standard for archaeological monitoring and recording (2023) and Universal guidance for archaeological monitoring and recording (2023). The watching brief was maintained over five days, and consisted of the recording of previously dug service trenches and the subsequent monitoring of and recording of further service trench works located within the scheduled area. Significant and potential archaeological features were hand cleaned and archaeologically recorded and planned. Finds, including artefacts and faunal remains, were collected for analysis. The methodology used followed that as detailed in the WSI (RPS 2025). Project Results: The works successfully confirmed the presence of archaeological remains in part of one trench, and their absence elsewhere. A record of the revealed archaeological cuts, layers and structures was made and artefactual evidence was recovered where present. The wall foundation, 7 was quite substantial at nearly a metre wide, and faced to the east and west sides, showing that its full width survived. The construction cut, 4, was considerably wider than perhaps required with only the western side observed. It is possible that the cut represents the edge of a terrace that the building indicated by wall foundation 7 sat within. There was no related wall or robber trench present within the west-east arm of the trench located to the north, or any return wall to the west within the north-south arm. This indicates that either the wall foundation demarcates an area to the east, or that it formed the western side of the building which extends to the east, in the area sealed by rubble layer 6. Rubber layer 6 was located at the base of the impact depth of the trench, and no attempt was made to remove this to look for any floor deposits that would have indicated the presence of a building here. This layer may be formed of demolition or collapsed material derived from upstanding walls, although the presence of two types of roof tile {ceramic and stone) as well as pottery and animal bone shows that it is quite mixed. The pottery recovered dates from the late-Roman period, similar to material recovered during the previous excavations.