SDO21610 - Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Herrison Sewer Field, Charminster, Dorset

‘In January 2008, ARCUS were commissioned by Grontmij to undertake a desk-based assessment of a field containing a small sewage works to the south of Herrison House, Herrison, Charminster, Dorset. The assessment was undertaken in support of a planning application for residential redevelopment of the site. The desk-based assessment comprised a site visit, documentary and cartographic research. Known archaeological sites within 1km of the site include a number of Bronze Age round and bowl barrows, as well as a Romano-British villa, which may have been on the site of Iron Age settlement. The large numbers of barrows in the vicinity indicate extensive use of the area in prehistoric times, although no settlement has been recorded in the immediate vicinity. During the medieval period, settlement appears to have consisted of a number of small farmsteads towards the valley bottom on the east bank of the River Cerne, each with an associated strip of arable and pasture land stretching up the hill to the northeast. These strips of land were reflected in later field and parish boundaries. The site was within a detached part of Frampton parish, and was shown as part of a field in 1839. A county lunatic asylum was constructed to the east of the application area in 1864, with a gatehouse/lodge built within the southeast corner of the application area. A sewage works was added in the early 20th century, presumably to service the asylum, which had been expanded. A separate building for private patients was built to the northeast of the application area in 1904. The hospital was closed in 1992, and the main buildings were converted into apartments. The sewage works is currently disused, with only building foundations and burnt roofing materials visible within the enclosure. No archaeological finds or sites have been recorded within the application area. The proximity of a number of known prehistoric, Roman and medieval sites indicate that there is the potential for the survival of previously unrecorded deposits within the site.’