SDO16997 - 173-181 Brandy Row, Chiswell, Portland, Dorset. A programme of historic building recording and archaeological monitoring and recording

‘Context One Heritage & Archaeology (C1) carried out a programme of historic building recording and archaeological monitoring and recording as a condition of granting planning permission for development at the rear of 173-181 Brandy Row, Chiswell, Portland, Dorset. The project was commissioned by Canford Estates Ltd. The Site is within the Underhill Conservation Area, and Chiswell lies mainly on the high shingle bank of Chesil Beach. In the early 19th century, the village reflected the presence of fishermen, quarrymen, traders and their families, the surviving buildings associated with fish wholesalers, former boat works, fishing huts/ stores, and a few older buildings built into Chesil Beach. The buildings either side of the Site (181 & 175), together with the former industrial single- storey stone building behind 181 being converted as part of the development, are identified as Important Local Buildings. The Site occupies part of the area remembered as being a dairy farm with a bull ring to the north, and includes the single-storey stone building with associated stone boundary/ retaining wall. However, the remaining industrial buildings on the Site are thought to date from the early 20th century with various adaptions taking place into the later 20th century. These have all been demolished as part of the development. Despite the existing buildings having been constructed on what must have been sloping ground, the development had the potential to impact below-ground archaeological remains associated with the settlement. The historic building recording has identified new evidence that provides more detail about the development of the buildings on the Site. The oldest built fabric are the walls on either side of the entrance from Brandy Row, dating to the late 18th or early 19th centuries, and a small rectangular structure also depicted on the 1841 tithe map. There is evidence that the latter was later amalgamated into the northern end of the largest early 20th century building on the Site. The only other building to appear in the later 19th century was the outbuilding within the northern part of the Site, which was contemporary with the adjacent boundary walls. The Site may have been first developed for dairying in the early 20th century, with the large building seemingly beginning life as a lean-to shed attached to the south side of the earlier small rectangular structure. The addition of further buildings suggests a change to light industry, and this endured into the mid-20th century when the second storey was added to the large building and the earlier fabric converted to offices. The archaeological monitoring and recording appears to confirm that prior to the construction of the dairying/ industrial buildings the Site was an empty plot, probably used as pasture and then gardens by the cottagers of Brandy Row. The steep eastward escarpment to the terrace in front of Cove Cottages and deep landslip deposits would have rendered the Site difficult for building on, and it seems likely that the western part underwent terracing prior to the construction of buildings.'