SDO12473 - An Archaeological Evaluation of the Site of a Proposed Housing Development at Poor Common, West Parley, Dorset

An archaeological field evaluation was carried out by AC archaeology in the area of the proposed residential development of land at Poor Common, West Parley, during July and August 1997. The work was commissioned by Bryant Homes Southern Ltd. The investigation involved the excavation of 41 hand-dug 1m square trial pits located on a grid basis at 50m intervals across the survey area, although some were repositioned due to the rpesence of dense vegetation. A further six larger trial pits were excavated through existing boundary banks and ditches within the development area, most of which are shown on the 1813 Hampreston Enclosure Map as boundaries of small arable land parcels. No positive evidence for archaeological activity pre-dating the 18th century was recovered from any trial pit - a single probable infilled ditch in TP41 was the only buried subsoil feature identified, although it contained no artefactual evidence. Excavation through the extant banks and ditches has confirmed, where dating evidence was available, a probable 18th or 19th-century date for their construction. The general absence of archaeological material identified during this exercise does not preclude the possibility that evidence may be present in areas away from the hand-excavated trial pits.