Monument record MDO2423 - South Street/ Ludbourne Road, Sherborne; possible medieval ditches

Evidence for possible Iron Age ditches was revealed during an archaeological evaluation at South Street/ Ludbourne Road during 1998. This comprised three ditches of possible Iron Age date. Subsequent analysis of soil samples from the fills of two of these ditches however, showed that one in Trench 2 was medieval in date and that another in Trench 3 contained small fragments of post-medieval material.

Lindsey Archaeological Services conducted an archaeological evaluation of land at South Street/ Ludbourne Road, during 1998 in advance of re-development of the site as Sainsbury’s Supermarket [1]. This was followed by a watching brief during demolition and levelling of the site [2].

Of the three evaluation trenches, the two at the eastern end of the site (Trenches 2 and 3) contained three ditches all sealed by the same alluvial deposit. Trench 2 contained a small ditch [205] measuring 0.65m wide and 0.2m deep. It was aligned approximately NE-SW and contained small fragments of Iron Age pottery. On this basis it was suggested that all three ditches were of Iron Age date. Trench 3 contained a pair of parallel ditches [304] & [310]. They were approximately 1.1m apart and 0.2m deep, running along the full length of the trench in an approximate E-W alignment, although neither of their full profiles were revealed [1]. However, subsequent analysis of soil samples from the ditch fills showed that ditch [205] contained small medieval pottery fragments and layer [206], which sealed the ditch, also contained a single small fragment of medieval pottery. Furthermore, the fill of ditch [310] in Trench 3 contained a small fragment of post-medieval glass and brick/tile [2].

This suggests that all three ditches are medieval/post-medieval in date, however, the presence of residual Durotrigian pottery in their fills is significant on a local level.

<1> Williams, M, 1998, South Street/ Ludbourne Road, Sherborne, Dorset. Archaeological evaluation (Unpublished document). SDO10394.

<2> Tann, G, 1998, South Street/ Ludbourne Road, Sherborne, Dorset. Archaeological monitoring during groundworks for a supermarket development (Unpublished document). SDO10393.

Record last edited

May 29 2008 12:44PM