Monument record MDO18283 - Land South-west of Poundbury Farm; prehistoric boundary gullies

A total of 21 gullies aligned on or near E-W / N-S axes were revealed during the 2001 archaeological evaluation and the 2005 excavation undertaken by Wessex Archaeology, in advance of development of a field to the south of Bridport Road and north and east of the By-pass. These were found across the whole of the site. Some ditches were sealed beneath colluvium of Late Bronze Age date and one beneath an Iron Age or Roman colluvial deposit. One small gully exposed during the excavation appeared to be associated with a quarry pit and contained Iron Age pottery. These gullies may be part of a field system of Late Bronze Age/Iron Age date, perhaps replacing an earlier Middle/Late Bronze Age field system found in the same area.

A number of small ditches or gullies were found during the archaeological evaluation undertaken in 2001 by Wessex Archaeology and the 2005 excavations in advance of development on a large tract of land to the south of Bridport Road and north and east of the By-pass and another to the north of Bridport Road and west of Poundbury Farm.

A total of 21 lengths of gullies aligned on or near E-W / N-S axes were revealed. These were mainly found in the field to the south of Bridport Road (in Trenches 1, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 33, 39, 41, 42), with a smaller number to the north of Bridport Road (in Trenches 54, 55, 60, 62). The gullies in Trenches 10, 27 and 33 were sealed beneath Late Bronze Age colluvium and the gully in Trench 14 was cut through a lower layer of colluvium and sealed by an upper colluvial layer which may be Iron Age or Roman in date. The gullies were all between 0.37 and 1.2m wide and between 0.16 and 0.48m deep. They all had a similar concave side and rounded to flat base profile. They generally had one or two fills of brown and orange-brown clayey silts with no evidence for an accompanying bank. Only gully (in Trench 14) contained any dating evidence. This was a single sherd of flint tempered Late Bronze Age pot, but this is probably residual as the gully cut through a layer containing Iron Age pottery.

The gully in evaluation Trench 24 was more fully exposed in the 2005 excavation and proved to be a relatively short feature cutting through and terminating on the line of a Middle Bronze Age field boundary ditch and curving round the north side of a quarry pit of probable Iron Age date (3)

These gullies may be part of a field system, perhaps beginning in the Late Bronze Age and continuing into the Iron Age, perhaps replacing the Middle Late Bronze Age ditched field system, evidence for which was also found during the evaluation.

<1> Gardiner, J, 2003, Dorchester, Land to the West and South-West of Poundbury Farm, 2000-2001. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeology Society, 154 (Article in serial). SDO9530.

<2> Dagless, N, 2001, Land to the West of Poundbury Farm, Dorchester, Dorset: Archaeological Excavation. (Unpublished document). SDO9532.

<3> Appleton, C, 2005, Poundbury Development, Phase II, Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset. Archaeological Post-Excavation Assessment Report (Unpublished document). SDO9932.

Record last edited

Sep 28 2006 6:05AM