SDO11552 - Mason's Lodge, Bell Street, Shaftesbury. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society

A small scale excavation carried out on a rescue basis, revealed evidence suggesting that a substantial masonry structure, pre-dating the existing late 17th-century cottage, was erected perhaps between 1539 and 1614, on what appears to have been the site of a less substantial building. Its function apepars to have been domestic and it was demolished prior to the late 17th century. No direct evidence of Saxon or medieval occupation was found relating to the settlement along Gold Hill.