SDO10427 - Sherborne, 39 Cheap Street; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

‘Archaeological investigations on land to the rear of 39 Cheap Street, Sherborne, were undertaken by AC Archaeology during July 2004. The work comprised a review of historic maps, a survey of historic buildings and the machine excavation of evaluation trenches.’ The earliest features excavated were a rubbish pit containing a large assemblage of medieval pottery, and a linear feature likely to have been located to the rear of a property fronting on to Cheap Street, beneath the present butcher’s shop. Part of an early 18th century building, visible on a map of 1733, was also recorded in the excavation as was a probable WWII air raid shelter. Parts of the existing buildings date from the 18th century although the majority were constructed around the middle of the 19th century to serve the newly established butcher’s shop.