SDO21149 - Westminster Memorial Hospital, Shaftesbury, Dorset Archaeological Watching Brief

‘Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust, to undertake an archaeological watching brief during demolition works and ground disturbance works associated with the proposed new road layout and car parking area at Westminster Memorial Hospital, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8BD. The works monitored were centred on NGR 386031 122874 and undertaken in response to Condition 5 of planning consent (ref. 2/2019/1708/FUL). The watching brief, undertaken between 13 April and 9 September 2021, highlighted significant ground disturbance that demonstrated substantial reuse of the site over time. The depth of overburden was over 1 m and, for the most part, groundworks did not reach the natural geology. Nevertheless, the discovery of buried post-medieval walls, and the presence of medieval artefacts within the finds assemblage recovered from layers of made ground, indicates activity present within the site bounds dating from the medieval period. A brick capped well was also identified and has been preserved in situ. There does, however, remain the possibility that features and/or deposits pertaining to earlier activity survive below construction levels, sealed by made ground deposits and medieval layers.’