SDO21421 - Whithill Quarry, Lillington, Dorset, Archaeological Evaluation Report

OASIS: This report outlines the details of an archaeological evaluation carried out by Bournemouth Archaeology for Sherborne Castle Estates as part of pre-determination investigations for a proposed extension to an existing quarry at the site. Previous archaeological investigations on the site comprise the recovery of disturbed human remains in 2010 and a geophysical survey in 2013. A total of ten evaluation trenches were excavated across the site; eight trenches were positioned over geophysical anomalies, while a further two were excavated in areas with no notable geophysical anomalies in close proximity to the existing quarry edge. The majority of the geophysical anomalies were proven to be either geological in nature or post medieval stone land drains. However a ditch was identified in one area extending north west and south east beyond the Trench 4. In addition the remains of two inhumation burials identified along the strip of exposed bedrock beyond the north side of the quarry cut. These had been truncated and were visible in section in the quarry face as well as in plan. Weathering and erosion of the grave fills had occurred, and disarticulated human bone was collected from the quarry surface below both of the graves. It is anticipated that these burials may represent part of a wider cemetery at least as far as the burials recorded in 2010, which were approximately 10m away. The cemetery may extend onto the undisturbed land beyond the edge of the quarry although it does not appear to extend as far as the location of Trench 10, approximately 8m away.