SDO11606 - The Archaeological Evaluation of a Proposed Housing Development on Land at Blandford St Mary, Dorset

An archaeological field evaluation was carried out at the above site, comprising the excavation of twelve trenches with a total length of 616 metres. The site lies to the south and east of the approximate location of a nineteenth century discovery of Romano-British burials, thought to be a cemetery. The trenches failed to show any evidence for this site continuing into the development area, but revealed a total of six linear features cut into the underlying subsoil. With the exception of two of the features, which were likely to be of post-Medieval date, none contained any datable diagnostic artefacts. While it is possible that the features may be of recent origin it is likely that they are prehistoric in date and are the remnants of former field systems. Fragments of worked flint, probably bronze age in date, were recovered from the spoil heaps. Two areas of former quarrying, probably dating to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, have been identified.