SDO20738 - Land at Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset: results of an archaeological trial trench evaluation

An archaeological evaluation, initially comprising eight machine-dug trenches, was undertaken on land at Parnham House, Beaminster, Dorset, by AC archaeology Ltd. during August 2023. The investigations were undertaken in support of a planning application for residential development. Due to on-site constraints only five of the eight trenches were excavated and minimal recording undertaken, following consultation with the Senior Archaeologist, Dorset Council. The trenches were located to test the results of a geophysical survey undertaken in December 2022, which identified a series of magnetic anomalies, some of which were considered to represent sub-surface archaeological deposits. Each of the five trenches excavated contained archaeological features and deposits. Although none of these features was investigated by manual excavation, artefacts recovered from the surface of a number of the exposed deposits indicates occupation of the site during the later Iron Age and Romano-British period. The deposits may be considered to represent both linear and discrete features, including gullies, ditches and pits. Dateable pottery was recovered that spanned the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, although some undiagnostic ceramic material could be of later prehistoric date.