Monument record MDO37364 - Ditch 101002, Corfe Mullen to Salisbury Water Transfer Scheme evaluation trench 101

An undated ditch, perhaps with a posthole cut into it, was found in evaluation trench 101 of the Corfe Mullen to Salisbury Water Transfer Scheme route. The ditch is part of a larger enclosure described in MDO44144 and recorded during the Dorset Middle Stour Catchment AI&M Project. The record for this monument has been created with support from Wessex Water.

A ditch (101002) aligned roughly NE-SW was found in the central part of evaluation trench 101 of the archaeological evaluation of the Corfe Mullen to Salisbury Water Transfer Scheme route. This ditch was 1.85m wide and at least 1.1m deep. It was not fully excavated, so its complete profile is not known with certainty, but may have been flat-bottomed.It was filled with layers of chalk and silt. The ditch corresponds to part of geophysical anomaly 260. [1] [2]

The excavators record a large post hole with post pipe cut into the top of this ditch. Charcoal and mollusc shell was recovered from the post pipe fill. They suggest that it may form part of a possible palisade.[1]

The presence of this post hole and putative palisade is not convincing from the photographs in the report and may be no more than part of the natural filling of the ditch. The location of the post hole in the upper part of the ditch suggests that the ditch was not associated with this postulated palisade. Careful examination of the original records may resolve this issue. [P Bellamy 31-12-2015]

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

The ditch is part of a larger enclosure described in MDO44144 and recorded during the Dorset Middle Stour Catchment AI&M Project.

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M, 2013, Corfe Mullen to Salisbury Transfer Scheme, Wessex Water, Dorset and Wiltshire: Archaeological Evaluation, 12 (Unpublished document).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

Ditch 101002 (Fig. 42, Section 11) was centrally located within Trench 101 and corresponded to a linear anomaly identified by geophysical survey. It measured 1.85m in width and at least 1.1m in depth. The lower half of the ditch cut contained a sequence of fills, the earliest 101003 to the latest 101006, derived from deliberate infilling sealed by a mixed chalk and silt deposit 101007 and two successive silting deposits 101008 and then 101009. The uppermost deposit 101009 was cut by a large posthole 101010. This measured approximately 0.6m in diameter and 0.7m in depth and contained a mixed chalk packing fill 101011. A post-pipe 101012 was also visible in section and an environmental sample (SS16) taken from its single fill 101013 recovered charcoal and mollusc shells. The posthole 101010, though not the post-pipe, was clearly visible in the opposing section indicating the presence of a possible palisade. No artefactual evidence was recovered from the fills within ditch 101002.
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

Aug 30 2022 6:11PM