SDO14424 - 89 West Street, Bere Regis, Dorset. Archaeological Watching Brief

‘Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Parsons and Joyce Contractors Ltd to carry out an archaeological watching brief on land at the 89 West Street, Bere Regis, Dorset during groundworks for the redevelopment of the Site. The Site is centred on National Grid Reference (NGR) 384770 094890 and lies at an elevation of between 45m and 50.5m above Ordnance Datum (aOD). The underlying natural substrata comprised upper chalk. The Site, positioned in the core of the historic settlement, potentially contained archaeological features and deposits, particularly of medieval and post-medieval date. An experienced archaeologist maintained a watching brief on groundworks undertaken between 27th and 29th April 2009. This comprised the mechanical stripping of the watching brief area, firstly to the surface of the natural chalk substrata and subsequently, following the examination of any potential archaeological features and deposits, to formation level, some 600mm below the surface of the chalk. No archaeologically significant features or deposits were located during the course of the watching brief. The only features and deposits revealed comprised a modern wall footing, service trenches and other disturbances associated with the former buildings. All contained modern material, such as frogged bricks, salt glazed water pipe fragments and plastics. These were overlain by thin deposits of topsoil or modern hogging/hard standing deposits. The upper surface of the natural chalk substrata was fairly flat, sloping gently to the south-west only in the extreme south of the Site, suggesting that the majority of the area had been previously landscaped, possibly when the former community hall and garden was built. The only remains recorded related to the former community hall on the Site. No traces of the building depicted fronting onto West Street on the 1777 Estate Map or remains relating to the village on the 1844 Tithe Apportionment Map were revealed. It appears likely that any traces of earlier settlement evidence were removed during landscaping/groundworks associated with the construction of the previous building/s and the garden on the Site.’