SDO14502 - Archaeological Evaluation Report: Land at Rampisham North, Rampisham, Dorchester, West Dorset, DT2 0HS

‘A programme of archaeological evaluation trenching took place to inform a planning application on land at Rampisham North. The aim of the scheme was to investigate the potential for and survival of any below ground archaeological remains that may be impacted by development proposals for a new large photovoltaic park. There is little evidence of any early occupation around the site. To the southeast are two prehistoric funerary monuments: a possible ploughed out Neolithic long barrow, and a Scheduled Bronze Age round barrow. There are no Roman or Saxon monuments in the area, although Rampisham appears as a manor held by the Bishop of Bayeux in the Domesday Book. The northern boundary of the site is defined by the Scheduled earthworks of a section of the boundary of the Rampisham Pale, a medieval deer park established sometime before the late 13th century. The earthwork boundaries survive in three segments; however a study of historic mapping has identified a former field boundary running through the southern half of the site which appears to be a continuation of the course of the known Pale earthworks. A slight ridge in the topography of the site may be the ploughed out remains of a bank, and this corresponds with parallel linear anomalies identified by geophysical survey. This document describes the results of a thirteen trench evaluation. The ditches of the Park Pale were identified in Trenches 3, 8, 9 and 11, with a small number of features being identified in Trenches 1, 12 and 13. Trenches 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10 were deemed to be archaeologically negative. No finds were recovered from the site.’