SDO13879 - A Preliminary Archaeological Assessment of a Proposed Housing Development Site at Newton Lane, Verwood, Dorset

A desk-based archaeological study and site visit was carried out for the proposed development site, in April 1996, to assess the archaeological potential. The principal interest in the area is the presence of a number of kilns, and other related sites, associated with the Verwood area pottery industry. This industry is likely to have been of Medieval origin, but continued into the twentieth century; although the bulk of evidence for the industry in Verwood comes from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There is no evidence to suggest that the Newton Lane site was directly connected with this industry. The site lies close to Potterne Hill, a name which is known to have been associated with the pottery industry in the Middle Ages, and an area which contains the site of a recorded kiln structure, some 130m SW of the development site. There is no positive evidence for archaeological remains on the site.