SDO16315 - Land North of Blandford Hill Road, Milborne St Andrew, Dorset. Archaeological Evaluation

‘Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Lewis Wyatt (Construction) Ltd – Wyatt Homes (the Client) to undertake an evaluation at land north of Blandford Hill, Milborne St Andrew, Dorset. The evaluation forms part of an ongoing programme of archaeological works being undertaken in support of a proposed planning application for the development of residential and local amenities (including a pre-school, surgery and green village spaces) within the Site. Ten trenches were excavated equating to a 2% sample of the c. 2.7 ha site. The fieldwork was carried out from the 28 to the 31 August 2018. A number of features were recorded, including a substantial east west aligned prehistoric ditch at the northern end of site, as well as a smaller north south aligned ditch in the neighbouring trench. These could be representative of outlying features related to a known site in the Milborne Business Park. Limited dating evidence suggests these features may belong to the Early to Middle Bronze Age period. Further features, including a group of postholes, gullies and a pit further to the south and east could, based on very limited artefactual evidence, represent Late Prehistoric Iron Age or Romano British activity within the Site itself. However, given the condition of the pottery sherds recovered, combined with their provenance (mostly from ditch fills or colluvium), little confidence can be placed on their use as firm dating evidence for the contexts in which they were found. A date range in the Iron Age to Romano-British periods however, would be in keeping with the evidence revealed to the east of the site at the Milborne Business Park.’