Monument record MDO37362 - Shapwick/Tarrant Keyneston Parish Boundary, Corfe Mullen to Salisbury Water Transfer Scheme evaluation trench 100

Part of the bank and ditch of the parish boundary between Shapwick and Tarrant Keyneston was found in evaluation trench 100 of the Corfe Mullen to Salisbury Water Transfer Scheme route. The record for this monument has been created with support from Wessex Water.

A large ditch (100002) aligned roughly NW-SE was found in the south west end of evaluation trench 100 of the archaeological evaluation of the Corfe Mullen to Salisbury Water Transfer Scheme route. This ditch was at least 5m wide and perhaps about 2.2m deep, though only the upper 1m was excavated, so its complete profile is not known. The upper deposits in the ditch included material eroded from an accompanying bank on the south west side, with a stabilisation layer near the top. A fragment of post-medieval tile was found in the upper silting deposits and nineteenth century and glass in the uppermost layer of silting above a stabilisation layer. The bank survived as a low earthwork along the line of the existing field boundary. The ditch corresponds to geophysical anomaly 260. [1] [2]

This bank and ditch form part of the parish boundary between Shapwick and Tarrant Keyneston. [P Bellamy 31-12-2015]

The record for this monument has been created with support from Wessex Water.

<1> Havard, T and Nicholl, M, 2013, Corfe Mullen to Salisbury Transfer Scheme, Wessex Water, Dorset and Wiltshire: Archaeological Evaluation, 11-12 (Unpublished document). SDO14094.

Ditch 100002 (Fig. 42, Section 10) was located at the south-western extent of Trench 100 and clearly corresponded to a linear anomaly identified in the geophysical survey. A possible linear geophysical anomaly at the north-eastern end of the trench was not identified. Ditch 100002 measured at least 5m in width and at least 1m in depth. A fence pin pushed into unexcavated fill in the base of the excavated section suggested that the ditch was at least a further 1.2m deep. A sequence of deposits deriving from bank erosion and gradual silting was identified. The two earliest exposed deposits identified were erosion deposit 10009 and silting deposit 10010. Deposit 10009 was sealed by a further erosion deposit 10008, which was then sealed by silting deposit 10007 which also sealed 10010. Deposit 10007 was sealed by further erosion deposits 10006 and then by 10005. The latter deposit 10005 was sealed by a thin silting layer 10004, which in turn was sealed by 10003 which was derived from ploughsoil settling in the top of the ditch.
2.18 A fragment of post-medieval ceramic flat tile was recovered from fill 100007, a fragment of worked flint from fill 100006 and 19th-century pottery and glass fragments were recovered from fill 100003. A bank visible in the existing field boundary immediately adjacent to the south-western end of the trench may represent the remnant bank formed from upcast derived from original excavation of the ditch.

<2> Marsh, B and Biggs, M, 2012, Geophysical Survey Report Corfe Mullen to Salisbury WTS (Unpublished document). SDO14089.

Record last edited

Dec 31 2015 1:02PM