SDO21091 - Woodsford Farm, Woodsford Quarry Extension, Woodsford, Dorset: an archaeological evaluation

‘The evaluation was carried out as intended. The fieldwork results confirmed certain archaeological potential of the western part of the application site and relatively low archaeological potential of its eastern part as anticipated by desk-based assessment and geophysical survey. The evidence for occupation of the site in earlier prehistoric periods was modest and comprised just a small number of struck flints of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age date and one ditch of Middle Bronze Age date. The most widely represented features were ditches relating to Late Iron Age activity with just one find (tegula) of certain Roman date recovered from one ditch to suggest this continued after the Roman Conquest. The evaluation trenches in the eastern part of the application site revealed a small number of ditches not depicted in historical maps which were undated and confined to one, southernmost field (5). The trenches excavated to the north of this field revealed several extraction pits filled with late 19th/early 20th century debris and extensive network of land drains of mid-19th century date but no features of archaeological interest.’