SDO12278 - Norden Park and Ride, Corfe Castle, Phase 2: Archaeological Field Evaluation

The archaeological evaluation of a proposed extension to the existing park and ride facility at Norden, Corfe Castle, comprised the machine excavation of four trenches amounting to a c. 2% sample of the southern zone of the proposed development. This site lies close to the recorded extent of the late Iron Age and Romano-British settlement at Norden, but in an area where no previous systematic survey has been conducted. A previous evaluation of the Phase 1 park and ride facility revealed no evidence for the presence of archaeological deposits. This present investigation identified a single archaeological feature; an approximately north-east to south-west aligned ditch which, based on artefact evidence, is of probable Romano-British date. The ditch was present crossing three of the four evaluation trenches and had an identified length of c. 25m. There were no other archaeological fealtures indicative of settlement in any trench, and no pre-modern artefacts were present. It is considered that the ditch represents a possible drainage feature, contemporaneous with the known Romano-British settlement, but located in an area away from the principal settlement focus.