SDO13218 - An Archaeological Field Evaluation of a Proposed Residential Development on Land off Cooper's Lane, Verwood, Dorset.

‘An archaeological field evaluation of land off Cooper’s Lane, Verwood was carried out by AC archaeology during early December 1998. The site lies to the north of Verwood on heathland soils, close to a Bronze Age funerary monument, with the area also having potential for the presence of kilns associated with the Verwood pottery industry dating from the later middle ages to the 20th century. The evaluation comprised the machine-excavation of five trenches, amounting to a 2% sample of this 1.4 hectare site. Most trenches contained completely negative results, with the exception of Trench 4, which contained a ditch, likely to represent the position of a former field-division when the land was divided into smaller field units. This trench also crossed through a large naturally-infilled curving hollow, containing a sequence of colluvial type layers. There were no artefacts of modern or earlier date recovered from any feature or trench, which suggests that the land has always been utilised for agricultural purposes and it is considered unlikely that there is evidence for previous settlement, funerary or industrial activity on site.’