SDO12415 - Waterloo Farm, Motcombe, Dorset: Archaeological Watching Brief

‘Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Southern Electric plc to array out an archaeological watching brief during the laying of an underground cable at Waterloo Farm, Motcombe, Dorset (centred on NGR ST 8290 2488). A narrow strip of land to be trenched lies within an area designated as a Scheduled Monument under the Ancient Monument and Areas Act 1979 (as amended). The monument comprises the well-preserved remains of a ditch and bank system which formed the boundary of a documented medieval deer park (County Monument Number 796). The cable trench was located in a part of the monument where 20th century development appeared to have removed all traces of the bank and ditches. Observations undertaken during the excavation of the cable trench within the vicinity of the Scheduled Monument resulted in the recording of a substantial ditch. This is interpreted as one of the flanking ditches for the boundary bank. No artefacts were recovered during the course of the work, and the ditch seemed to have been the subject of disturbance in relatively recent times. The archive is currently stored at the offices of Wessex Archaeology at Old Sarum, Salisbury, under the site code W1700, but will be deposited at Dorset County Museum, Dorchester in due course.’