SDO10376 - Child’s Garage, Sherborne, Dorset. Archaeological field evaluation

An archaeological evaluation was carried out in March 1996 of land to be developed as retirement properties on the site of Child's Garage, Long Street, Sherborne, Dorset (centred on ST 6398 1660). Five trenches were excavated, three of which, Trenches 1-3, showed c. 0.3m of modern topsoil over largely undifferentiated, homogeneous dark subsoil at least 0.7m deep. In Trench 4, the highest part of the site, redeposited subsoil overlay topsoil (some of which may also have been redeposited) over subsoil in situ. It is probable that the deep subsoil formed as a result of intensive cultivation and it is suggested that the area may have been part of the kitchen garden of The Retreat (later Harper House, fronting Hound Street). The underlying natural clay bedrock was reached only in Trenches 1, 2 and 5. The redeposited soil in Trench 4 almost certainly originated in the south-eastern part of the site, where Trench 5 showed that the area had been cleared down to clay during or before the construction of a hard-standing area. One of two stone wall footings recorded in Trench 5 continued the alignment of the western wall of an extant building not far to the south and corresponds with a boundary shown on an Ordnance Survey map of 1903. The other wall is probably part of a small building shown on the same map. Modern/post-medieval features were noted in Trenches 3 and 4, but undisturbed features of other than recent origin were recorded only in Trenches 1 and 2. The earlier features were severely truncated and survived only where cut into the underlying clay. Five such features were investigated, three in Trench 1 and two in Trench 2. Finds of medieval date, including an iron arrowhead were recovered from one feature in Trench 1 and from both features in Trench 2. The other features are also likely to be of medieval date. Although these features are presumably associated with activities in the medieval town of Sherborne, little can be said about their character or function.