SDO18099 - Land South East of Lodden Lakes, Gillingham, Dorset: Archaeological Evaluation

In 2021 Cotswold Archaeology undertook two phases of archaeological evaluation of Land South East of Lodden Lakes. This comprised of a total of 13 trenches. Trenches 1-5 and 13-14 were archaeologically sterile with artefactual material dating to the medieval and post-medieval period was recovered from an alluvial deposit in Trench 6, but it is likely to be residual in nature. Archaeological features consisting of ditches (Trenches 7-11), and a burnt flint deposit (Trench 7) were recorded in plan but were not excavated due to localised flooding caused by adverse weather conditions. The ditches recorded are evident from their alignment to represent at least two phases of land management, and probably represent a field system. A small enclosure centred on Trench 10 cannot be ruled out. None of the archaeological features mentioned above are located on any cartographic sources postdating the 1800’s and are expected to date to the post-medieval period or earlier. During the excavation works prolonged adverse weather resulted in the flooding of trenches, preventing the investigation of the limited features identified. Deteriorating ground conditions subsequently prevented the use of heavy machinery across the Site. Of the planned 21 trenches, 13 were opened, representing a 60% completion of the planned archaeological scope. This sample is considered sufficient to clarify the archaeological interest of the Site for the purposes of informing a planning decision. Based on the results of the pre-determination archaeological evaluation, as carried out, the archaeological interest of the Site can be categorised as low.