SDO215 - The Vines, Long Street, Sherborne. Archaeological Assessment

AC archaeology was commissioned by Messrs Palmer Snell to carry out an archaeological assessment of the site known as The Vines, Long Street, Sherborne. The site of the proposed new dwelling lies within the garden of The Vines (figure 1), in an area considered to have considerable archaeological potential relating to the 12 century suburban development of Sherborne. The two trenches have demonstrated some medieval activity within the area investigated. The gulleys/ditches, dateable within the medieval period, may pre-date any suburban expansion along the line of Long Street and may represent other field boundaries, drainage features, or may combine both functions. In the absence of any associated features the function of the single pit, cut 31 is difficult to explain. The absence of medieval stratigraphy associated with these subsoil features, together with the apparent lack of medieval artefacts within the overlying deposits, together point to the absence of any substantial structures or intensive occupation within the area investigated.